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Dollar declines vs mark

NEW YORK: The dollar was lower in midday trading against the mark and the yen on profit-taking, but traders said the main action was in sterling, which was down to $1.5340/50 from a high of around $1.5440 in early trading.

"There seems to be more activity on sterling," said Jack Griffin, manager of corporate foreign exchange at Fuji Bank.

David Glowacki, senior dealer at NBD Bank, said: "People are selling sterling against both the dollar and the mark, it's having an effect on just about everything."

He said weaker U.K. inflation data was a factor in sterling's weakness.

The dollar at midday was at 1.4778/83 marks after opening at 1.4860/70, and 97.85/95 yen after 98.24/31 at the start.

The dollar stood at 1.2265/70 Swiss francs at midday, down from the opening at 1.2356/63 Swiss. It was little changed against the Canadian dollar at C$1.3585/95 from C$1.3588/93.-Reuter