Foreign Exchange for Tuesday, Sept. 30, 1986 : Dollar Is Boosted By Trade Figures

The dollar rose against major foreign currencies on Tuesday, boosted by better-than-expected U.S. trade figures and by some continued West German central bank intervention in Europe to support the dollar against the mark. The dollar also benefited from an absence of statements from Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker. Statements of theirs in the past have driven the dollar down.

Gold prices turned higher here after falling abroad. Bullion was quoted at $426 an ounce at Republic National Bank in New York, up $3 from Monday’s bid.

The Commerce Department reported early in the day that the U.S. merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $13.3 billion in August from a revised $16.05 billion deficit in July. Some traders had expected the deficit to come in as high as $21 billion.

Jeff Mondschein, a vice president of Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, said: “We saw a bit of support of the dollar from the trade figures.”