Foreign Exchange : Dollar Little Changed; Gold Edges Up

The dollar finished little changed against major currencies Thursday in extremely quiet trading, which financial analysts generally attributed to the lack of any new significant economic statistics.

Gold prices rose slightly in Europe and the United States after falling in Hong Kong. Republic National Bank in New York quoted gold at a bid price of $348.65 an ounce, up from $348.20 quoted Wednesday.

Some analysts said the currency market was weary because of hectic trading the previous day, when the U.S. government released better-than-expected statistics about the economy and Federal Reserve Board Chairman expressed a desire to see Japan and West Germany do more to stimulate economic activity.

“This was possibly the most boring day we’ve had all year,” said James O’Neill, a foreign-currency economist at Marine Midland Bank in New York. “The market seemed to say, ‘we’ve had enough this week.”’