New Year holiday sees dollar slump

The US dollar index fell 0.4 per cent to 77.581 today (December 31st).

Reports in the Financial Times (FT), attribute the "broad" decline to "extremely light" trade as Tokyo and many European countries take holiday ahead of the New Year celebrations.

The US index, which tracks the dollar's progress against six leading currencies, reached a year high of 89.624 on March 4th.

According to the FT report, Sterling jumped 0.6 per cent to $1.6177 against the US dollar on the last day of the year.

At the same time, the euro increased by 0.5 per cent to $1.4418.

Over the last 12 months sterling rose by approximately ten per cent and the euro increased three per cent.

However, the news provider stated that the Australian and New Zealand dollars were "easily the best performers among the major currencies", with increases of 28 and 25 per cent respectively versus the US dollar.

Posted by Chris Barber