Dollar Slumps; Mark Rallies

The dollar slumped against major currencies Monday in the continued fallout from the resignation last week of the French finance minister.

The French franc tumbled Friday upon the surprise resignation of Alain Madelin. On Monday, traders had little confidence that the new minister, Jean Arthuis, would forge economic policy that supported the franc, analysts said.

This caused the renewed fall Monday of the French currency, which drove traders to the German mark, whose strength helped the dollar fall.

“The dollar really is not a story,” said Lisa Finstrom, a currency analyst at Smith Barney Inc. “The Deutsche mark is capturing most of the market’s attention.”

Exchange Currency in Dollars Dollar in foreign currency Canada .7471 1.3385 France .1817 5.5030 Germany .6838 1.4625 Great Britain 1.5510 .6447 Italy .000617 1621.00 Japan .010363 96.50 Mexico .158228 6.3200