Weak Tankan Survey Boosts Dollar

The dollar rose against the Japanese yen Wednesday on a weaker-than-expected report on business sentiment in that country but drifted lower against the German mark and most other major currencies.

Traders had been hotly awaiting the release of the Bank of Japan’s quarterly Tankan survey of business sentiment. It came out overnight and the main index for major businesses came in minus-7, down from a reading of minus-3 in the prior survey released in June.

The poor reading allayed fears that the Bank of Japan would be raising interest rates soon.

Currency in Dollar in Exchange Dollars foreign currency

Canada .7320 1.3662 France .1976 5.0600 Germany .6773 1.4765 Great Britain 1.5591 .6414 Italy .000662 1510.25 Japan .009223 108.42 Mexico .133529 7.4890