Foreign Exchange for Tuesday, March 25, 1986 : Dollar Rises Sharply; Gold Declines

The dollar rose sharply against all major currencies on Tuesday, buoyed by good U.S. economic figures and growing concern over U.S.-Libyan clashes. Trading was lively at first, but slowed as the day progressed.

Gold prices fell hard in what dealers described as a confused market. Bullion was quoted at $344.50 an ounce at 4 p.m. EST, down $6 from Monday.

“The dollar put in another strong performance today. It just seems to be a further continuation of an advance that began over the weekend and continued into yesterday,” said James McGroarty, a vice president of Discount Corp.

Most dealers, however, don’t consider the dollar’s sharp gains this week as evidence of a major turnaround.

The dollar surged Tuesday after reports from Washington showed that the U.S. consumer price index fell 0.4% in February and U.S. durable goods orders fell 0.5%. But, without a plunge in defense sector orders, bookings for durables would have gone up 2.5%.