The euro gave way on Friday. For the most part, however, the common currency was able to hold on to its gains from the last few days of trading. It was quoted in the early evening at $ 1.1861, 0.2 percent lower than the previous evening. During the week, dollar weakness had given the euro a strong boost. The lack of clear indications from the US Federal Reserve to exit the extremely loose monetary policy and disappointing US economic data had recently weighed on the American currency. During the week, the euro was able to gain more than a cent.
The pound sterling, meanwhile, has continued to move higher, reaching its highest level in a month at $ 1.3989. The rise in the UK currency was helped by the weaker dollar and a drop in corona cases in the UK.
Oil prices slightly extended their recent gains. A barrel of North Sea Brent rose 0.3 percent to $ 76.30 after the price had already risen by 1.8 percent on Thursday. The market has said that demand is growing faster than supply, while vaccinations are expected to mitigate the effects of the recurrence of corona infections around the world.
“The market participants do not seem to see the problem of the Delta variant as alarmed as they did at the beginning of last week,” said Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank. “There is confidence that ongoing vaccination campaigns in developed countries will prevent widespread mobility restrictions from being reintroduced,” he added. The gold price remained at $ 1,826 per troy ounce. The precious metal thus defended its 1.4 percent increase in value this week.