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The Russian ruble has been witnessing gains lately as general demand for risk has increased, making commodity prices such as oil increase. Because Russia posses many natural resources, such as crude oil and gas, demand for the Russian ruble increased as well.

That winning streak came to end today, making the Russian ruble decline from a 12-week high point against the U.S. dollar in the forex market. The trend was reversed when the United States reported that confidence amongst consumers decreased more that analysts had initially predicted. The report made demand for risky assets, such as the ruble, decrease and the demand for safer assets, such as the dollar, increase.

The Russian ruble has lost 80 basis points against the U.S. dollar today, which means that the ruble is on its way to the biggest daily drop in over two weeks.

Just as the European officials are set to meet tonight in Brussels, the euro depreciated against the U.S. dollar in the forex market. The main reason behind the drop is that investors are speculating that the meeting might not reach a final resolution due to Greek negotiations between the government and banks are putting a stop to all current efforts. The negotiations have been dragged out as the parties are having problems coming to terms.

Although this was the first weakening against the U.S. currency in about a week, the euro continued to weaken against the Japanese yen, which it has been doing for the past three days. The euro depreciated 70 basis points against the U.S. dollar and 60 basis points against the Japanese currency.

The Canadian dollar continued to gain in today’s trading session. The Canadian currency is now on its fourth consecutive day of gains in the forex market, which is the longest winning streak in over two months. As the outlook for the global economy brightens, the demand for the loonie has increased, leading to big gains against almost all major currencies.

Global news has recently led to a boost in most risky assets, such as stocks and commodities. As oil is one of Canada’s largest sources of income, the country has gained a lot of momentum on 4 days of increasing oil prices. Furthermore, a strong U.S. economy suggests that the country’s export will increase, which also increases demand for the loonie.

The Canadian dollar strengthened 30 basis points against the U.S. dollar and is now trading at $99.23 U.S. dollars.

The euro performed well during the first part of the week but erased a lot of gains due to recent events taking place in Italy. A few days ago bond auctions in Spain attracted many investors as very high yields for bonds with one-year maturity were offered. Some bonds even breached the 9 percent level. This increased demand for the euro, making it appreciate in the forex market.

Yesterday, investors hoped that bond sales in Italy would reach the same levels they did in Spain. That did not turn out to be the case as Italy instead enjoyed very low borrowing costs hovering around a 3 percent level. The result made many investors sell off euro based assets, thus making the currency weaker.

The euro depreciated against all major traded currencies in the forex market, reaching a 20 basis points depreciation against both the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen. The earlier gains made by the euro managed to outweigh todays depreciation, leaving the euro on a positive trend for the week.

Large financial institutes have announced that estimates for several currencies in the forex market are official for the year 2012. One of the first banks to report on predictions on a currency is UBS who has predicted the faith of the U.S. dollar in the first six months of 2012.

According to the Swiss financial institution, the U.S. dollar will continue on its 2011 trend and keep appreciating against the euro until it reaches record levels in the middle of the year. Analysts at UBS believe that the U.S. currency will reach the highest level against the euro in 2 years somewhere between July and the end of 2012.

The U.S. had a great year in 2011 and outperformed all other major currencies in the forex market due to its stability and the instability in other regions such as Europe. The U.S. currency appreciated nearly two and a half percentages against an index of the biggest currencies in the world. Investors are also betting that the U.S. dollar will continue to gain this year, as predictions are that the country’s budget deficit will improve and unemployment continue to decrease.

In the early days of the financial bubble in the U.S. in 2008, many people believed that the U.S. dollar would take a too big of a hit to ever bounce back. Both analysts and economists claimed that the safest bet was to stay away from the U.S. currency as it was too unstable and the Federal Reserve needed to spend too much money to bailout banks and other financial institutions. Voices were stating that the U.S. dollar would no longer be the main currency in the world and that we would witness a shift in financial power and stability. Today, two years later, it is evident that there is a reason why the U.S. is the largest economy in the world.

Since its lowest level in 2008, the U.S. dollar has appreciated over 13 percent in the forex market. Even though the Federal Reserve kept their benchmark interest rates at record low levels and kept buying mortgages and printing vast amounts of money, the demand for U.S. dollars seems to be insatiable. Financial turmoil historically increases demand for U.S. dollar as it is considered the most stable economy in the world. Even though the U.S. had to withstand hardships and a lot of criticism, the country’s currency is still going strong and proving to be the best performing currency in the forex market today.

Some analysts are predicting that the U.S. dollar will hit a 44 week record against the euro before the end of 2011. Currently, the U.S. currency is trading just under a percentage from this record breaking point.

The U.S. dollar is still considered a safe haven and the U.S. is experiencing a very high level of foreign investment. The greenback does witness several ups and downs on a daily basis as risk appetite keeps increasing and decreasing on news announcements. However, looking through a longer time scope, the U.S. dollar has been, and is looking to continue to be, a safe bet for investors who do not know where to invest.

The president of the European Central Bank is about to make a speech, where analysts are predicting that the image of an uncertain future full of hardships will be conveyed. As a result, the euro will weaken and the U.S. dollar strengthened.

The European Central Bank will start their three-year loans program on December 21^st in order to keep banks funded and make sure that liquidity will not be an issue. The Vice president of the bank stated that they believe that the demand for these loans will be very high.

As early 2012 is a time many Europeans bank have a due-date on paying back portions of loans, the general consensus is that these three-year loans will come in handy. This is a part of the action plan European officials agreed on earlier this month, the hope is that these loans will stimulate the economy and fight the current debt crisis. Furthermore, the banks are enjoying less strict rules, as they do not need to have as much collateral to loan money tomorrow as they had to have before the European meeting.

Banks will be able to lend money at a one percent interest rate as of tomorrow. The announcement from the European Central Bank made the euro appreciate today in the forex market.

U.S. Treasuries gained more than they have in the last 90 days as threats of the European debt crisis still has investors worried. As a result, demand for safe assets increased significantly, which mainly U.S. treasury bonds witnessed.

Treasuries are the most demanded financial assets at the moment as most markets are in turmoil. It is still uncertain what the future bears, most investors are skeptical about European leaders coming to terms and fighting the current debt crisis. Some economist claim that the reason behind an indecisive and cautious Europe is the number of countries that has to approve action to fight the crisis.

For investors looking for safe assets, treasuries are proven to be one the few places to keep capital. Other markets are currently witnessing strong fluctuations mainly due to the European sovereign-debt crisis.

The result of the Swiss National Bank policy meeting is that the Swiss franc will remain untouched, even though several economists have stated that it is currently to strong. The president of the bank said in a statement that if the possibility of deflation rises, they would surely intervene. However, the SNB does not believe it is a threat at the moment as prices are predicted to fall around 0.3 percent in the coming year.

As the announcement hit the forex market, the Swiss currency rose against several other currencies, mainly the euro. Although the Swiss the government decided not to act at the moment, Phillip Hildebrand, President of the Swiss National Bank, said that they are ready to act any moment they witness a threat to the Swiss economy.

The Swiss franc appreciated 0.8 percent against the euro today, which made it hit its 2-month peak.