Dollar Keeps Climbing Vs. Mark

The dollar hit its third straight 8-year high against the mark and a nearly 3-month high vs. the yen Tuesday after Germany’s central bank left interest rates unchanged and new Japanese economic data showed surprising weakness.

There had been speculation the Bundesbank might raise a key rate known as the repo rate from its current 3 percent level as a sign of concern over the mark’s steady erosion against the dollar, particularly over the past month. Higher rates tend to strengthen a currency.

But the central bank said in a routine announcement Tuesday that it was keeping the repo rate steady. The conspicuous absence of any central-bank warning about the dollar’s ascent also contributed to the rally.

Currency in Dollar in Exchange Dollars foreign currency

Canada .7245 1.3802 France .1576 6.3435 Germany .5321 1.8792 Great Britain 1.6242 .6157 Italy .000544 1839.20 Japan .008386 119.25 Mexico .128238 7.7980