Dollar Gains; Euro Continues Losing Ground

The U.S. dollar was up across the board Friday as concerns about European peripherals festered and comments from North Korea fanned fears of further escalation on the peninsula.

Despite the likely announcement of an €85 billion rescue package for Ireland on Sunday, the euro continues to suffer reaching recent lows of $1.32 and nearly retracing 50% of June's lows. The euro also continued to lose ground as FT Deutschland reported eurozone countries are encouraging Portugal to accept a bailout in a bid to stop contagion affecting Spain.

Meanwhile, sterling continued trade on a heavy foot reaching a session low of $1.566 with the yen down as well following the concerns on the Korean peninsula. Elsewhere, on the back of risk aversion, coupled with a less hawkish statement from the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Australian dollar led declines among the majors with a drop to A$0.961.

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