Russia is now unlikely to reduce the share of U.S. assets in its international reserves, President Dmitry Medvedev's chief economy aide, Arkady Dvorkovich, said in an interview outside Moscow on Dec. 27. The nation boosted dollars to 45.4 percent of its reserves as of June 30 from 45.3 percent three months earlier, its central bank said in a report published on Dec. 27.

For the first half of 2012, "the dollar continues to look appealing," said Manoj Ladwa, a London-based senior trader at ETX Capital, which provides services including currency trade execution, in a Dec. 29 telephone interview. "In the second half we could have something resembling a global recovery, with potentially a bottom to this euro-zone crisis and further clarification from China on how hard or soft the landing will be. Money could then shift back away from the dollar and into riskier assets."

Global Reserves

The U.S. dollar's share of global foreign-exchange reserves climbed in the third quarter to 61.7 percent, the highest since late 2010, while holdings of euros fell to a three-year low of 25.7 percent, according to figures from the Washington-based IMF quarterly data.

While the dollar is up since 2008, it's down 34 percent from its highs a decade ago, IntercontinentalExchange's index shows. The Fed's Trade-Weighted Real Broad Dollar Index that tracks it against those of 38 countries shows the dollar has depreciated 15 percent from its average in 1973, the year global currencies began freely floating.

The dollar has been the world's reserve currency since the U.S. and allies agreed at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference to peg it to a rate of $35 per ounce of gold. It remained the most- traded legal tender after global currencies began freely floating in 1973, accounting for 85 percent of the $4 trillion per day foreign-exchange market, according to the Basel, Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements.

Japan-China Accord

The currency's value peaked in 1985 before finance ministers from the world's largest economies forged the Plaza Accord, agreeing to weaken the dollar to reduce a record U.S. current-account deficit, the broadest measure of trade because it includes investment.

While the dollar's shares of the more than $10 trillion in global reserves has increased, it has tumbled from a peak of 72.7 percent in 2001.

Some nations are seeking ways to reduce dollar dependence. Japan and China said last month they will promote direct trading of the yen and yuan and will encourage the development of a market for companies involved in the exchange rates.

The appeal of U.S. financial assets can be seen in the market for Treasuries, which gained 9.8 percent, the most since 2008 at the height of the financial crisis. Treasuries due in 10 years or more soared 29 percent.

Foreign Holdings