This Friday’s shift in market sentiment allowed the U.S. dollar to post a weekly advance versus most of the main higher-yielding currencies, as risk aversion rose globally and traders opted by the relative safety provided by dollar-priced assets.

The dollar gained significantly versus commodity producer currencies like the Brazilian Real and the Australian dollar towards the end of this week as China’s new lending restrictions raised concerns that demand for raw materials may decline in the country, affecting exports from these countries. The dollar also reverted a losing trend versus the euro and ended the week with a positive result as some of its member countries increasing budget deficit are raising speculations that the currency attractiveness may be impacted among traders, making the European single currency to drop sharply in this week’s last trading session.

Even if economic data published in the U.S. during this week was below forecasts, pessimism was stronger and allowed not only the dollar, but also the yen to outperform most of main trading currencies towards the end of the week. Fed rate hikes speculations declined significantly, but the dollar may continue to sustain its current levels as uncertainty regarding the global economy remains considerable.

EUR/USD closed the week at 1.4381 from 1.4505. NZD/USD closed the week at 0.7368 from 0.7424 on Thursday.

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