Dollar Gains Some Ground

The dollar edged higher again Wednesday, assisted by new weakness for the German mark against other European currencies.

The dollar also was aided by a stable Mexican peso and revived U.S. stock prices, both of which had kept the greenback down for a spell on Tuesday. The dollar’s mild rise against European currencies also helped it gain on the Japanese yen.

“The dollar is really doing a little better because the German mark has eased against European currencies,” said John Ryding, a senior economist at Bear, Stearns & Co.

“When the deutsche mark tends to weaken against the European currencies, the dollar has a tendency to strengthen against the mark.”

Exchange Currency in Dollars Dollar in foreign currency

Canada .7478 1.3372 France .2014 4.9664 Germany .7012 1.4262 Great Britain 1.5717 .6363 Italy .000623 1605.05 Japan .009916 100.85 Mexico .148588 6.7300