The dollar fell against most major currencies on Tuesday as Wall Street tumbled amid concerns over investment bank Lehman Brothers.
The fourth-largest investment bank of U.S. has been seeking to boost liquidity after suffering 8.2 billion dollars in write-downs and credit losses since the financial crisis began last year. Its stocks plunged to the lowest point in about a decade on Tuesday as investors worried that the firm was having troubles in finding new capital, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average down nearly 300 points.
It sparked fresh worries over the U.S. financial sector and risk aversion behaviors in foreign exchange market. Analysts said the markets were also starting to focus on the impact of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout on the national budget deficit.
The euro bought 1.4168 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.4106 dollars it bought late Monday. The British pound rose to 1.7637 dollars from 1.7547 dollars.
The dollar fell to 1.1246 Swiss francs from 1.1319 Swiss francs, and fell to 107.07 Japanese yen from 107.99 Japanese yen. It rose to 1.0686 Canadian dollars from 1.0677 Canadian dollars.
(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2008)