By Deborah Levine
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. dollar's share of foreign-exchange reserves rose in the fourth quarter, according to data from the International Monetary Fund released Wednesday. As a percentage of known allocated reserves, the dollar's share rose to 62.1% at the end of last year, compared to 61.5% in the third quarter. "Valuation often seems to explain the bulk of the volatility in the currency allocations," said strategists at Brown Brothers Harriman. The report also showed the euro's share of reserves slipped to 27.4% from 27.8%, while the share of reserves in Japanese yen declined to 3% from 3.2%, the analyst said. "It seems likely that the dollar's share of reserves likely rose in this quarter too," according to Brown Brothers. The euro lost 1.8% versus the dollar in the fourth quarter, and is on pace to fall about 6.1% this quarter. The dollar rose 4% against the yen in the fourth quarter, and is up just 0.3% in the three months ending Wednesday. China is among the countries that don't report holdings to the IMF.
