The concerns about the global economic recovery, caused by the surging oil prices and the conflicts in North Africa and Middle East, weakened the Asian currencies, including the Malaysian ringgit.

The euro extended its decline versus the US dollar for the second day today as the spread between the bonds of the indebted nations and the German bunds widened on the speculation that the European debt problems may worsen.

The Australian dollar weakened as the surge of the oil prices on concern about the Libyan revolt caused the decline of stocks and commodities and reduced risk appetite.

The Japanese yen strengthened today as stocks declined and commodities retreated, increasing demand for the currency as a safe haven.

The New Zealand dollar reached today the lowest level since 1992 against its Australian counterpart as the stocks declined and New Zealand Prime Minister upheld his previous opinion about the necessity of an interest rates cut. The currency advanced versus the US dollar.

The euro rebounded after it previously declined today versus the US dollar as Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Greece’s government debt, refueling the concern about Europe’s sovereign debt.

The euro advanced this week despite risk aversion sentiment, caused by the unrest in Middle East, as the European Central Bank signaled that an increase of the interest rates isn’t out of question.

The Swiss franc gained as the unrest in Middle East and the surging oil prices increased appeal of safer assets, including Switzerland’s currency.

The positive reports about the employment in the US weren’t been able to boost the dollar strong enough to help it to appreciate against other currencies. The good US economic data slowed the rally of the euro, but didn’t manage to reverse the upward momentum of the European currency.

The Great Britain pound extended its losses versus the US dollar and the euro today after the report showed that the house prices in Britain decline more than forecast last month.