By: Sara Patterson

In the year’s final day of trading the Australian and New Zealand Dollars rose against most of their major trading partners, recovering from one-week lows as Asian stocks rallied to increase demand for higher-yielding assets. The Australian Dollar, known fondly as the Aussie, rose 0.2 percent to $1.0155, up from $1.0044 at the close of yesterday’s US trading session. The currency also rose slightly against the Japanese Yen, from 78.69 to 78.71. The New Zealand Dollar posted similar gains, up 0.2 percent to 77.26 cents against the greenback.

Despite these gains, the Australian Dollar is set to end 2011 lower 0.8 percent lower against the Dollar and 5.2 percent lower against the Yen. The New Zealand Dollar is also ending the year on a low note, down 1 percent against the greenback and 5.4 percent against the Japanese Yen.
Euro Continues to Struggle

While some currencies are rallying somewhat as the trading year winds to a close, the Euro continues to flounder, hitting yesterday a 15-month low against the US Dollar. The common currency hit a low of $1.2958 against the Dollar, meeting many analysts’ expectations, but avoiding even the even wider losses that skeptics had been predicting. The currency later recovered to $1.2943 in the Asian session.
The Euro lost 6.6 percent against the Dollar in 2010, and another 3.3 percent against the greenback in 2011. Continuing struggles and debt crises in the Eurozone make analysts skeptical that the currency will regain its footing in the beginning of 2012.