American focus: the dollar rose sharply

The dollar index rose to two-month high, as investors flocked to safer assets on concern that U.S. President Barack Obama will struggle to persuade Congress to avoid the so-called "financial cliff" after his historic re-election.

The euro fell to its weakest level in the last two months against the dollar after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said that the crisis in the region affects Germany.

The U.S. currency weakened against the yen since Obama defeated Republican rival Mitt Romney, who is opposed to the current policy of the Federal Reserve System, which is based on stimulating the economy.

The euro fell against most major currencies, except the Norwegian krone against the fact that Greek lawmakers were ready to vote on the austerity measures required to receive international aid.

Also today, the European Commission said that the euro zone economy is likely to grow by only 0.1% in 2013, compared to the vulnerable forecast at 1% increase. The committee lowered its forecast for growth in Germany to 0.8% from 1.7%.

Switzerland franc rose against the euro and fell against the dollar after the central bank said the country's foreign exchange reserves declined last month, which was the first time since February. Also published data showed that consumer price index rose in October, much less than expected.