LONDON (Dow Jones)--Foreign-exchange hedge funds continued their dismal performance in July, but they didn't suffer as much as they had done in previous months, data from the Parker FX Index showed Wednesday. Currency hedge funds posted a -0.03% aggregate loss in July following losses of 1.01% and 2.07% in June and May respectively. The latest reading trims the year-to-date average returns for funds in this asset class to -2.06% from -2.17%. Fund-of-funds manager Parker, which tracked the performance of 57 currency funds in July, said the median gain for the month was 0.3%, with 30 funds reporting gains, 26 reporting losses and one reporting flat returns. In terms of the range of performance, the strongest fund posted a gain of 8.8%, while the weakest lost a sizeable 11.34%. Parker noted that the European and U.S. sovereign debt crises resulted in a flight to quality as well as a surge in currency and equity market volatility in anticipation of political developments on both sides of the Atlantic. The euro was the worst performing currency for the month, losing 1.6% against the dollar. It also sank a chunky 4% against the Swiss franc and 5% against the yen. - By Jessica Mead, Dow Jones Newswires; 44 20 7842 9256; jessica.mead@dowjones.com

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