'Watershed' increase for dollar

By Peter Garnham in London and John Authers in New York The US dollar enjoyed its biggest one-day jump against the euro in eight years on Friday, as the long-running tendency of the dollar to weaken while commodity prices strengthened went into a dramatic reverse. Against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, the dollar was at its strongest in four months. Meanwhile, there was a further sell-off of crude oil, which touched a low of of $115.61 a barrel – down more than $4 on the day. This was the lowest level since early May, and more than 20 per cent below its record high of $147.27 a barrel set last month. Non-energy commodities were also down more than 20 per cent from... [read full story]