Dollar Drops On Call For Strong Mark

The dollar ended mostly weaker Thursday after top Bundesbank officials surprised the foreign-exchange market by calling for a strong mark and Britain’s central bank increased interest rates.

The remarks by Bundesbank President Hans Tietmeyer and Franz-Christoph Zeitler, a member of the German central bank’s policymaking council, caught traders off guard because they had expected the mark to continue weakening. Many scrambled to buy the currency afterward.

Exchange Currency in Dollars Dollar in foreign currency Canada .7279 1.3730 France .1689 5.9220 Germany .5709 1.7515 Great Britain 1.6886 .5922 Italy .000582 1717.25 Japan .008835 113.18 Mexico .127049 7.8710