The rise of the dollar to its highest level since 2002 has led to billions in losses for US companies from detergent makers to dating apps this year.As earnings growth begins to slow, for some companies the extra currency impact will mean the difference between expanding and shrinking for the rest of the year.
Goldman Sachs’ index of US companies with primarily international exposure has fallen twice as much as its index of companies whose operations are mainly domestic, down roughly 15 per cent and 7 per cent this year respectively. By comparison, the internationally exposed index rose roughly 27 per cent last year against 30 per cent for the domestically focused one. In 2020 and 2019, the international index outperformed the domestic index.
Foreign exchange effects, largely attributable to the dollar, are expected to have knocked roughly $40bn off the earnings of North American companies in the first half of this year, according to financial technology firm Kyriba. That is compared to roughly $8bn in the first half last year.