The Swiss franc reached parity with the US dollar today for the first time since December 4th 2009 as the demand for the safety grew on the concerns for the global recovery and the stocks declined.

The Japanese yen strengthened today after Naoto Kan, the Prime Minister of Japan, won the vote of the Democratic Party of Japan, beating his rival Ichiro Ozawa.

The positive economic data from China caused the Swiss franc to depreciate against the euro, as the signs of the Chinese economic growth decreased the demand for the safety. The US dollar weakened versus the franc.

The brighter outlook for the economic growth of the US and China bolstered the stocks and the commodity prices today, improving the risk sentiment. The investors’ willingness to risk benefited the Canadian dollar, which jumped to the highest level in three weeks.

The Mexican peso strengthened against the US dollar today for the fourth day as crude oil gained and the US equities went up, making Mexico’s peso the best performing currency of Latin America.

The euro gained today versus the US dollar and the Japanese yen as China’s economic expansion improved outlook for the global economic recovery and as the banks were given eight years to comply with more strict capital rules.

The improving outlook for the global economic recovery helped the New Zealand dollar to rise for the most part of the week (in fact, the upward trend showed itself in the week before) and become one of the best performing currency (together with the Australian dollar) this week.

The Australian dollar rallied today for the sixth straight day versus the euro and for the third against the US dollar and the Japanese yen as the outlook for the US and China’s economies improved, making the investors more willing to risk and increasing demand for the riskier assets.

The Canadian dollar weakened today versus its US counterpart and halted the five-day rally against the euro after Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, said that the policy maker would be “careful” in considering whether to raise the interest further and their decision will be influenced by the outlook for the US economic growth. Currently the currency is slowly regaining its strength.

The New Zealand dollar rose today versus its US counterpart for the third straight day as the reports showed that the unemployment claims in the US dropped more than expected and as China’s exports grew, bolstering the risk appetite.