Dollar Rises Then Falls; Gold Up

The dollar rose and then fell in active trading Thursday after confirmation that monetary officials of five major industrial nations would meet this weekend to discuss ways of stabilizing exchange rates.

Gold prices were higher. Republic National Bank in New York quoted a bid of $398.40 for an ounce of gold as of 4 p.m., up from $392.50 late Wednesday.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker confirmed during a Senate Banking Committee appearance that a meeting of the Group of Five nations--the United States, Britain, France, West Germany and Japan--would be held Saturday.

The Reagan administration wants the Japanese and the West Germans to lower their interest rates to spur economic growth.

With Thursday’s confirmation, the dollar rose sharply at first against all major currencies in European trading.

But later in the day, comments by Volcker and Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III tempered optimism that the weekend meeting would halt the dollar’s slide.