The South African rand rose today against the U.S. dollar, the second day of gains after the currency tumbled previously, after the EU leaders ensured that the budget cuts won’t bring the European economy down, causing the risk appetite to return; later the rand declined and currently trades near its opening level.

The Brazilian real slid today as the widening crisis in the European Union caused pessimistic outlook for the global economic recovery and made the investors’ sentiment shift towards the risk aversion.

The Australian dollar declined as the minutes of the central bank policy makers’ meeting suggested that there will be the pause on the increase of the interest rate and as the global markets remain sluggish because of the European debt crisis.

The Great Britain pound fell today against most other major currencies, including the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen, on the concerns about the nation’s budget shortfall and after the report that the house prices in London declined.

The euro extended its decline today amid the concerns that the actions, taken by the EU leaders to rein the debt crisis, will curb the region’s economic growth and may even lead to the dissipation of the Euro-zone.

The Australian dollar fell versus its U.S. counterpart today on the concern that the fiscal crisis in Europe will impact the global markets, eroding the demand for the riskier currencies, and on speculation that the central bank won’t raise the interest rates in June.

The U.S. dollar rose against most other major currencies as the government reports signaled about the stable recovery of the U.S. economy, while other countries were troubled either with internal problems or by the impact of the European debt crisis on the global markets; the U.S. currency was experiencing volatility versus the Japanese yen and fell against it by the end of the week, also dropping against the Canadian dollar.

The U.S. extended its gains against the euro for the fifth consecutive day after the reports showed that the retail sales and the consumer confidence in the U.S. increased while the debt troubles in the European Union cause concern about the future of the common European currency.

The Canadian dollar fell today to the weekly low against its U.S. counterpart, erasing its gains this week, as the concerns about the debt crisis in the European countries erode the demand for the raw materials, including oil.

The Swiss franc dropped against the U.S. dollar for the fifth consecutive day and fell versus the euro after the four days of the appreciation on the speculation that the central bank will intervene to prevent the currency from advancing further.