Dollar Moves Up Against Franc

The dollar ended mostly steady Friday but gained on the French franc in advance of France’s weekend elections and rose sharply against Australia’s dollar from a surprise cut in Australian interest rates.

Overall it was the first relatively calm trading day for the dollar in a week marked by large swings in the currency, particularly against the yen, which has strengthened sharply against the dollar for most of May.

Traders didn’t read too much into the dollar’s behavior Friday, however, because currency dealings were thin in advance of the 3-day Memorial Day weekend in the United States and Britain.

Many participants were reluctant to take speculative positions in key currencies and quit early.