Euro up on week; Polish currency uneasy ahead of election

Story link: Euro up on week; Polish currency uneasy ahead of election

The US dollar saw some gains on Friday after a Labor Department report showed that not as many jobs as had been feared were lost to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in September. However, traders were moved to sell US dollars as worries mounted over the narrowing of bond yields between the US and Europe, spurring the biggest one-day fall by the dollar against the Euro in three years.

The euro, in fact, was stronger over the week against a number of currencies. There was talk of interest rate hikes in the eurozone due to inflationary pressures and rumors that the Bank of England might have to cut interest rates due to slow economic growth there. This talk came after both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England chose to leave interest rates where they are for the moment during meetings this week.

The US dollar went virtually unchanged against yen at ¥113.80 but lost 1.1 percent to the Swiss franc to sit at SFr1.2792.

The euro gained 0.7 percent over the week to $1.22 versus the US dollar, was up 1 percent to £0.6880 in relation to sterling, put on 1.4 percent to A$1.6009 against the Australian dollar, added 1.6 percent to C$1.4218 versus the Canadian dollar, and advanced by 3.5 percent to R7.9334 in relation to the South African rand.

Sterling, meanwhile, dropped 0.3 percent to $1.7591 versus the US dollar.

Elsewhere, the Polish zloty ended the week at 3.9018 versus the euro as uncertainty grew over the outcome of the presidential election in Poland, scheduled for this weekend.