Greenback’s Strength Broadens

The dollar rose for the fourth straight day Thursday, touching another 6-year high against the mark, on fresh hints that Germany won’t oppose the rally and on unexpectedly weak Japanese economic news.

Demand for dollars also broadened to hurt the Swiss franc, which up until Thursday had been relatively immune to the dollar’s latest ascent. The dollar touched a 3-1/2-year high against the Swiss franc.

The dollar reached an intraday high of 1.8387 marks, the strongest since July 1991, before settling in New York at 1.8348 marks, up from 1.8268 Wednesday.

Exchange Currency in Dollars Dollar in foreign currency Canada .7236 1.3820 France .1617 6.1855 Germany .5450 1.8348 Great Britain 1.6745 .5972 Italy .000561 1783.25 Japan .008617 116.05 Mexico .128057 7.809