The South African rand tumbled today against the U.S. dollar, erasing its previous gains, as the concerns about sovereign-debt crisis in the European Union made metal prices decline and after the two-week wedge strike.

The Russian ruble gained today against the U.S. dollar and the euro after the oil prices stabilized near $70 level, improving the outlook for the economy of Russia, the largest energy exporter in the world.

The South African rand strengthened today versus the euro and the U.S. dollar after the retail sales grew as the central bank has performed the interest rates cuts, leading to the accelerated economic expansion and the stronger currency.

The euro was weakened today by the renewed concerns about the ability of the European Union’s nations to resolve the region’s debt crisis after the Spain had to step up to support the regional lender.

The Great Britain pound declined against the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen after the survey showed that the households’ pessimism about their finances increased and the outlook for the job security amongst the public sector workers worsened on the expectations of the coming budget cuts.

The euro was weakened in the first half of this week by the concerns for the sovereign-debt crisis in the European Union but was strengthening against most other major currencies over the second half of the week.

The Canadian dollar halted its decline to the lowest level against its U.S. counterpart this month and rose today as the turmoil on the equities markets, caused by the European sovereign-debt crisis, receded and the demand for the currencies tied to growth returned.

The euro rose to the weekly high level today against the U.S. dollar and gained versus the Japanese yen on the expectations for the European Central Bank to intervene in order to support the common European currency.

The New Zealand dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart today, while it was declining for the whole week, after the consumer confidence increased and the unemployment rate dropped, suggesting about the increasing pace of the economic recovery.

The Swiss franc weakened against the euro today after the Swiss National Bank intervened, selling the currency in order to curb the franc’s appreciation.