The Australian dollar was the runaway winner last week, thanks largely to help from an unlikely source: the Reserve Bank of Australia.
It was not so much what the RBA said as what it didn't say. On Tuesday, as expected, the bank kept its benchmark rate steady at 2 per cent. However, the RBA's statement included none of the usual bombast about the overvaluation of its currency. Friday's Monetary Policy Statement from the RBA did a similar job by talking up the economy and dispelling any idea of further rate cuts.
America's dollar was among the group fighting for second place. It received a boost from the president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve, Denis Lockhart, who told the Wall Street Journal that only a 'significant deterioration' in the economy could persuade him not to vote for higher interest rates next month.
Friday's employment report was of less help: Although total non-farm payrolls were in line with expectations, the monthly increase in July fell short of forecast.
As the week drew to an end the pound was in about as much demand as a weekend ticket to the fourth Ashes test. Its undoing was Thursday's Monetary Policy Committee minutes, which showed only one vote for an increase in the Bank Rate. Investors had been expecting at least two of the nine members to be pushing for a rise.
It did not help when the Bank of England governor played down his earlier suggestion that the first increase could be around the turn of the year.
With negotiations between Greece and its creditors now apparently heading for agreement this week on a third bailout, the euro had a reasonable run. It is unfortunate that Finland believes the new package will be ineffective and that Germany would rather offer Athens a bridging loan but, from investors' point of view, any agreement is better than none.
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