Dollar Rises on News of Escalating Turmoil in Russia : Markets: Analysts are uncertain how gold and stocks will be affected. Assets in U.S. currency are traditional safe havens.

Reports of armed troops and gun battles in Moscow pushed the dollar higher in early overseas trading Sunday, but analysts were uncertain how the crisis would affect other financial markets.

“It’s hard to figure how the market will react,” said Ziggy Zborowski, a currency trader at Bank Leumi Trust Co. in New York. “One would think the dollar would go up and that gold would tend to rise in these events.”

The 13-day political standoff between Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin and Vice President Alexander Rutskoi and other conservatives worsened dramatically Sunday when anti-Yeltsin protesters seized a television station and battled with pro-Yeltsin forces.

“The fate of Russia, the fate of our children is being decided today,” Yeltsin said.

Interfax news agency reported eight people were killed in fighting between police and pro-Parliament protesters trying to attack the television complex, but there was no confirmation. Dozens of people were believed to be wounded.

“We have to take the Kremlin,” Parliament speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov said in an address to Parliament.

In early trading in Singapore, the dollar surged to about 1.6500 German marks, up sharply from Friday’s closing of 1.6315 in New York, said Marc Chandler, senior market strategist at Idea Inc., a financial analysis service.

“We are getting a bit of a bounce,” Chandler said. “It seems that people are being serious on this.”

Traditionally, the dollar and dollar-denominated assets such as U.S. Treasury bills are seen as safe havens for international investors in times of crisis. Chandler said the dollar was benefiting from this trend as traders sold the German currency, considered vulnerable because of its close economic links with Russia. Other analysts agreed.

The financial markets have had a mixed reaction since Yeltsin disbanded Parliament on Sept. 21 and Rutskoi’s supporters stayed defiantly inside the building.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped nearly 39 points after the initial confrontation but has since more than recovered.

The dollar fell slightly Friday after reports suggested Yeltsin and Parliament members were trying to negotiate a peaceful settlement.

Analysts were uncertain how the latest battle would affect the U.S. stock market.