In the December quarter, the US dollar declined by 8 per cent against the euro, 7 per
cent against the yen and 5 per cent on a broad trade - weighted basis.
In the final three months of last year the US dollar declined by 8 per cent against the euro and 7 per
cent against the yen, to be around its lowest level in the past decade.
Not exact matches
In particular, the Australian dollar fell to around US63
cents by late August as investors moved out of the currency into the rapidly appreciating
yen; the bilateral rate
against the
yen fell from 82 to 70
yen over the same period.
The
yen has been volatile over the past three months, in net terms falling by 3 per
cent against the US dollar.
The bulk of this has been due to the exchange rate
against the Japanese
yen, as the
yen has fallen sharply on world markets, including a fall of about 50 per
cent against the US dollar from its peaks in mid 1995.
The local currency was up by 8 per
cent against the US dollar and about 7 per
cent against the euro but flat
against the Japanese
yen.
The Japanese authorities slowed the very heavy intervention they had been undertaking in earlier months and the
yen appreciated by as much as 8 per
cent to 108
against the US dollar between end August and late October — its highest level for nearly three years — before weakening a little.
Canada's dollar — which hasn't been below 69
cents since April 2003 — was also down Friday
against the euro, British pound and Japanese
yen.