Dollar Drops On Interest Rate News

The dollar fell against most major currencies Thursday as the German central bank unexpectedly declined to lower interest rates, a move that would have boosted the greenback.

In late New York trading, the dollar traded at 1.4739 German marks, down from 1.4845 marks late Wednesday. The dollar was worth 106.15 Japanese yen, down from 106.55 yen.

While the dollar dropped more than a pfennig against the German mark, it didn’t fall very far against the Japanese yen and some other currencies because of market sentiment that the Bundesbank must lower rates soon to boost the flagging German economy.

Bundesbank officials have been making a case for lower rates, saying they expected a slowdown in the rapid growth of the money supply.

Exchange Currency in Dollars Dollar in foreign currency Canada .7334 1.3636 France .1990 5.0263 Germany .6785 1.4739 Great Britain 1.5252 .6557 Italy .000638 1567.85 Japan .009421 106.15 Mexico .132758 7.5325