Dollar Finishes Lower, Gold Mixed
The dollar moved lower in the United States on Thursday, after rising slightly in European trading on reports that the Bank of Japan had intervened early in the day to bring down the value of the yen against the American currency. Trading was subdued.
Gold prices were mixed. Bullion was quoted at $344.50 an ounce by Republic National Bank in New York, down 50 cents from Wednesday’s bid.
“The dollar’s off a little bit. The market fundamentally wants to take this dollar lower,” said William Orsini, manager of foreign commercial exchange for the Bank of Montreal’s New York operations.
Traders reported there was no evidence the European central banks had intervened in the dollar markets.
But there were unconfirmed reports of Bank of Japan intervention via the New York Federal Reserve Bank on Wednesday and again in the Tokyo market Thursday morning. “The rumors were that they came in and they were not large amounts that they were buying,” Orsini said.
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