MW:Currencies’ weekly carnival ride leaves dollar back at start
That’s it? After all the currency market’s gyrations for the week – including a tussle over whether Europe or a downgraded U.S. would win the ugly contest; a flight out of risk that rallied the safe-havens; and then a rebound in the Swiss franc on veiled central bank threats to institute a euro peg — some of the major currency pairs ended not far from where they started.
The dollar index DXY traded at 74.599 late Friday, nearly flat with its week ago finish. It’s still down 5.6% in 2011.
The euro EURUSD is down 0.3% against the dollar for the week, but still up 6.3% for the year. The British pound GBPUSD has fallen 0.7% versus the greenback, cutting the year’s rise to 4.1%.
The yen was a stand out. The dollar this week has lost 2.1% against the yen USDJPY, the biggest drop since April. It’s lost 5.4% this year, keeping the yen near its all-time low.
For the week, the dollar is up a just 1.1% versus the Swiss franc USDCHF, and is still down about 17% for the year. Read MarketWatch’s currencies report.
