Dollar steady; gold, silver up

The dollar was basically unchanged in late U.S. tradingyesterday after falling in Tokyo to a new 40-year low against theJapanese yen.

Gold prices rose, as silver continued its recent surge.Republic National Bank in New York quoted gold at $423 a troy ounce,up from $418.50 late Monday.

At the New York Commodity Exchange, silver stood at $6.733 atroy ounce, up from $6.548 Monday. That was the highest it has beensince March 19, 1985, when it stood at $6.835, the Comex said.

"I guess some of the speculator money thinks silver's awfullycheap, and that's what we're seeing here, said David Ryan, a preciousmetals specialist at the New York office of Swiss Bank …