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Foreign Exchange : Dollar Drops Against Most Currencies

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Associated Press

The dollar extended its decline Tuesday against most major currencies in thin dealings on world currency markets. Gold dropped about $4 an ounce to $389.15 as a number of U.S. investors apparently moved to sell their holdings of the metal before the end of the year.

Traders said the dollar was weakened by a government report that U.S. durable goods orders rose only 0.6% in November after excluding defense spending. With the latter included, durable goods orders jumped 5.9%.

As in recent trading days, the dollar’s weakness was magnified by the lightness of the pre-holiday markets.

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“There was no depth to the market,” said Dan Holland, an assistant vice president for Discount Corp. in New York. “None of the markets are really quite in tune at this time of the year.”

Dealers noted that the British pound continued to advance despite Tuesday’s dip in oil prices and negative figures on the British trade balance.

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