Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Monday, June 9, 1997
NEW YORK -- The dollar fell against major currencies -- dropping to a six-month low versus the yen -- on concern over Japan's growing trade surplus and potential delays in Europe's single currency. Dollar drops to 112.93 yen
on trade friction fears"We've got a little crisis brewing in Europe, with France unwilling to bow to the requirements of monetary union," said Richard Koss, currency strategist at MFR Inc., a money management and consulting firm. That, combined with a U.S. warning to Japan on trade, is "hurting the dollar."
The dollar fell earlier against the yen after U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said "we won't tolerate" a widening trade gap with Japan. That surplus likely will be discussed at a meeting in Denver later this month by finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrial nations, said Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin. The dollar fell to 112.93 yen from 114.60 yen late Friday in New York. Earlier, it dropped to 111.90 yen, its lowest since Dec. 6. The dollar fell to 1.7072 deutsche marks from 1.7248 marks Friday.
French Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn said France isn't ready to sign a European Union agreement that imposes deficit limits once the single currency, or euro, is in place. Speculation that the euro will be delayed beyond 1999 helps the mark because it will remain Europe's primary currency.
SEATTLE -- Safeco Corp. has agreed to buy Lincoln National Corp.'s property and casualty insurance unit for about $2.8 billion, highlighting a wave of consolidation in this competitive part of the industry. Seattle's Safeco to buy
insurer for $2.8 billionSafeco, a Seattle-based insurer, will pay $47 a share to buy American States Financial Corp., the unit of Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Lincoln.
Safeco is financing the purchase with a combination of cash, stock and debt.
Bloomberg News reports