Dollar Takes a Pounding Abroad by Steadies in N.Y.

The dollar steadied a bit in late trading Thursday, after taking another pounding in nervous, choppy activity on world currency markets.

Traders said the dollar was pushed and pulled by statements from officials in the West German government and the Reagan Administration.

They said the U.S. currency dropped precipitously in response to a comment by Albert R. Brashear, President Reagan’s deputy press secretary. Brashear told a press briefing that the Administration does not have “any particular concerns” about a potential free fall of the dollar.

“Currency markets will from time to time react, sometimes quickly, rather violently, to outside actions that might be unrelated, such as rumors in the marketplace,” he added. “But as a general rule that is short-lived, and they will respond to the basic underlying economic conditions which really dictate the market.”

The dollar plummeted on reports of Brashear’s remarks, dropping to around 1.8280 West German marks from 1.8400 marks just seconds before, dealers reported.

“The market immediately got very, very nervous,” said James McGroarty, vice president for foreign exchange at Discount Corp. in New York.

Earlier in the trading day, statements by West German Finance Minister Gerhard Stoltenberg that the dollar is undervalued in the long term briefly boosted the U.S. currency, dealers said. But a subsequent comment that political agreements are unsuitable to support the dollar drove it back down.