Banker’s Remarks Boost Dollar

A sluggish dollar recovered late Wednesday after Germany’s central banker said the mark was too strong and any likely interest rate movement in his country would be downward.

“It was a very boring, uneventful day up until a half hour ago,” Rick Porter, a vice president in foreign exchange at the New York office of Bank Brussels Lambert, said late Wednesday afternoon. “This led to buying of the dollar against major currencies late in the day.”

In late New York trading, the dollar was quoted at 84.71 yen, up from 84.68 late Tuesday. It also was changing hands in New York at 1.4139 marks, up from 1.4110.

Exchange Currency in Dollars Dollar in foreign currency Canada .7246 1.3800 France .2018 4.9550 Germany .7111 1.4062 Great Britain 1.5915 .6283 Italy .000609 1641.00 Japan .011860 84.32 Mexico .162999 6.1350