The great rally in the US dollar is over for now. Is the buck taking a rest before resuming a rally, or is this the precursor for another decline?

On a trade-weighted basis, the dollar rose 22.7 per cent from July until its peak last month. This was not, evidently, due to any great strength in the US economy. Instead it was largely a perverse phenomenon – as traders sold assets to pay down debts (deleveraging), they often had to buy dollars. So as the crisis intensified, so the dollar strengthened.