Dollar Falls In Volatile Dealings

The dollar hit its third straight 4-1/2-year high against the yen Thursday before falling sharply on fears of Japanese intervention and ambiguous comments by Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin about the U.S. currency’s surge.

It was the dollar’s first retreat in a week and reflected growing nervousness in the foreign-exchange market about how quickly the currency has advanced.

“The underlying message was that maybe the dollar needed a little correction here,” said Dennis Heidt, a trader at Banque Paribas in New York.

Currency in Dollar in Exchange Dollars foreign currency

Canada .7177 1.3934 France .1731 5.7785 Germany .5821 1.7178 Great Britain 1.6234 .6160 Italy .000590 1695.75 Japan .007959 125.65 Mexico .126550 7.9020