Dollar Loses Ground

The dollar weakened against leading currencies Thursday, weighed down by renewed buying interest in the German mark and Japanese yen.

But the greenback’s losses were stemmed as traders remained cautious ahead of a U.S. retail sales report due out Friday that could help gauge the direction of the economy.

The mark had weakened on Wednesday when an investigation of French Premier Alain Juppe was shelved. But indications that Juppe’s problems weren’t over sent investors back to the relative safety of the German mark and Swiss franc.

Against the yen, the dollar edged higher in Asian trading after rumors surfaced that there could be huge foreign exchange losses at Fuji Bank.

Exchange Currency in Dollars Dollar in foreign currency Canada .7479 1.3370 France .2022 4.9445 Germany .7052 1.4180 Great Britain 1.5753 .6348 Italy .000626 1596.67 Japan .009995 100.05 Mexico .149701 6.6800