European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 20, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Coup in the Kremlin Dollar surges on news of soviet coup from staff and wire reports the news that soviet president Mikhail s. Gorbachev was ousted from Power monday sent Dollar and Gold prices surging and Stock prices plummeting in Europe. Quot clearly the Dollar is the currency of Safe Haven Quot said Anthony Thomas an economist with Kleinwort Benson inc. In London. The Dollar which stood at 1.762 German Marks when the news of the coup first broke shot up to 1.8350 Marks Early in the morning then slipped to 1.80 and Rose again to about 1.82 at the Frankfurt currency Exchange s 1 . Fixing. A the military Exchange rate in Germany a used to figure the Sale of Marks to . Personnel for personal use a jumped to 1.78, up 7 pfennig from Friday s rate. Continuing strength of the Dollar Thomas said will depend on future events in the soviet Union. Quot at present the news looks pretty grim Quot he said. Quot it looks like the hard liners have taken Over. If it is a tightest coup then the Dollar will go higher then people will fear civil . A the alternative he said would be some sort of agreement Between hard liners and reformers. Quot that would Stop the Dollar surge but i doubt if it would drop much in value. Quot everything depends on How things pan out in the next few  if the events in the soviet Union continue to be unstable he said he believes the Dollar May leap to 1.85 or 1.90, on Wall Street Panicky investors dumped stocks and hoarded dollars and Oil monday in a frantic response to the coup in the soviet Union. It was one of the worst upheavals in the . Market since the height of uncertainty surrounding the persian Gulf War and came after stocks tumbled overseas the Dow average of 30 Premier . Industrial companies plummeted 100 Points within the first hour of trading to the 2,868 level but rebounded slightly by a a mid morning to the 2,890 level. Trading was heavy. The Sharp decline triggered a system of Quot circuit Breakers Quot on the new York Stock Exchange which temporarily limits Large volume computerized Selling if prices plunge too steeply. Hildegard Zagorski a vice president at Prudential securities inc., attributed the. Sell off to a Quot Panicky the fall of Mikhail Gorbachev meant a Rise for the Dollar. The military Exchange rate for the German Mark jumped As traders reacted to the news. Sis Mie Hoal Abrami Chart shows How the . Dollar jumped monday during trading in Frankfort Germany. Liquidation Quot Oil prices Rose sharply in extremely Active trading on fears that soviet Oil exports would be reduced or halted. In Early trading on the new York mercantile Exchange on monday Light Sweet crude Oil for september delivery jumped $1.50 per barrel to $22.80 after rising nearly $3 a barrel in Europe. 1 Britain s prime minister John major tried to Calm the markets telling reporters a there is no reason for people to panic in terms of the International markets either the Exchange Market or the Stock exchanges and i Hope they won  a but dealers said trading was hectic and volatile throughout the world. One London Oil broker speaking anonymously said Quot everybody s got chaos All Over the  Tokyo s nikkei Stock Index dropped 1,300 Points or nearly 6 percent. Quot its the Gorbachev Shock. There a. Some perplexity among investors How to respond to the news As it came so suddenly Quot said Eiji Ito a trader with Uaiwa securities. The events also pushed the Dollar sharply higher against the japanese yen. Analysts noted that markets were braced for the news in some ways. Quot there had already been speculation of what would happen if Gorbachev was knocked out Quot said Jeremy Umland of . Warburg securities. Quot the worst fears Are beginning to be  analysts said the  had More Impact on european and North american markets that have invested More in the Success of Gorbachev s democratic reforms Germany s Bundesbank confirmed it sold dollars against the Deutsche Mark monday morning. The a intervention was a coordinated Effort with other european Central Banks said dealers who reported that the British French and Swiss National Banks also participated. In Germany where 330,000 soviet troops Are still Fritz reus Rath Stock broker in Dusseldorf Germany chalks up monday a soaring Dollar rate. Stationed in the East the Frankfurt Stock Exchange opened with Large losses across the Board and Public issues on the Bond Market dropped in London the ftse-100 Index fell 86.1 Points to 2,534.9 just 45 minutes into trading but recovered slightly with Early bargain Hunting dealers said. The plunge followed a record close on Friday at 2,621. The Pound also weakened to 1.6235 against the Dollar from the close on Friday of 1,6620. In Frankfurt a spokesman for american express a International said the markets Are now waiting further details. He also predicted that the Dollar could hit 1.90 Marks if the situation remains unstable. Jens Uwe Fischer of manufacturers Hanover Frankfurt said that Quot nobody knows what is really going to  the world is watching he said. Quot it does not look Good As it stands  staff writer Mary Nath contributed to Thea report. Page 6 b the stars and stripes tuesday August 20, 1991