Currencies continued to evolve at the end of this week. While the South African rand and the pound are falling, the Russian ruble and the yen are rising on their

The South African rand slipped against the dollar in early trading on Friday . At 0731 GMT, the rand was trading at 18.7925 against the dollar, about 0.2% lower than its previous close. The dollar index was up 0.07% to 103.75 against a basket

The pound came close to its biggest weekly drop against the yen in a year on Friday. The pound is also heading for its worst weekly performance against the dollar in a month, but it has remained firm against the euro. The pound was down 0.3% on the day at $1.2564. Relative to the yen, the pound was up 0.3% to 181.15, after falling nearly 3% on Thursday. The pound is expected to fall by 2.8% per week against the yen, its biggest drop in a year.

The yen jumped by more than 2% on Thursday and was well supported on Friday, as short sellers worried that a long-awaited recovery had finally begun. The yen reached its highest level against the dollar in four months, at 141.6 on Thursday, and stabilized at 144 per dollar on Friday, after gaining about 5% in three

The Russian ruble rose slightly on Friday, extending its recovery after a low of more than a month against the dollar. At 0740 GMT, the ruble was 0.1% stronger against the dollar at 91.98, moving away from 93.56, its weakest point since November 3, reached in the previous session. It gained 0.3% and traded 99.14 against the euro, and strengthened 0.2% against the yuan to