In Brief : Dollar Rises in European Trading

The dollar ended mostly higher in nervous trading in Europe today, even though reports of intervention by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank curbed a rally.

The foreign exchange market repeatedly tested the dollar at higher levels, but the Fed entered the market quickly to sell the dollar and within minutes the U.S. currency plunged, dealers said.

The reported intervention by the Fed, which wasn’t accompanied by dollar-selling by the major European central banks, put a lid on the dollar’s movements for the week, traders said.

Though many players said they remained bullish toward the U.S. currency, they said they would wait for Friday’s publication of U.S. preliminary fourth-quarter gross national product figures before attempting to bid up the dollar.

In Tokyo, where trading ends before Europe’s business day begins, the dollar rose 0.70 Japanese yen to a closing 127.65 yen. Later, in London, it was quoted at 127.75 yen.

Gold fell in London to a late bid of $404.25 an ounce from $407 bid late Tuesday. In Zurich, gold fell to a bid $404.25 from $407.10 late Tuesday.