Yeltsin Shake-Up Boosts Dollar

The dollar ended mostly higher Tuesday, deriving a bit of strength from safe-haven buying after Russian President Boris Yeltsin revamped his cabinet and a Japanese nuclear plant caught fire.

But the dollar’s gains partly eroded as the day progressed, with little in the way of economic news to guide the foreign-exchange market. Traders said the dollar was unlikely to move significantly in either direction pending the release of additional data on U.S. economic growth this week.

“At the end of the day we were a little bit higher, but it was really a kind of sideways trading day for the dollar,” said Jim Phoenix, director of foreign exchange at CIBC-Wood Gundy in New York.

Exchange Currency in Dollars Dollar in foreign currency Canada .7316 1.36668 France .1740 5.7455 Germany .5867 1.7044 Great Britain 1.6072 .6222 Italy .000590 1695.00 Japan .008210 121.81 Mexico .125628 7.9600