Dollar Stages Rally After Swiss Speech

The dollar rallied Friday, overcoming early weakness after a Swiss central banker said he wasn’t concerned about the currency’s strength and the Labor Department reported the lowest U.S. jobless rate in 24 years.

The combination of remarks by Swiss National Bank governing board member Bruno Gehrig and the healthy American employment data pushed the dollar to its highest weekly closing levels against the mark and yen this year.

In New York, the dollar settled at 126.57 yen, up from 126.51 yen Thursday and up 9.2 percent for the year. The dollar cost 1.7293 marks, up from 1.7217 and up 12.2 percent for the year. The dollar cost 1.4715 Swiss francs, up from 1.4695. The pound cost $1.6210, down from $1.6242.