NEW YORK (Reuters) - The negative effect of currency fluctuations on North American companies' results in the second quarter rose slightly from the first quarter, but was down from a year ago, currency risk consulting firm FIREapps said on Wednesday.
For the second quarter of this year, the negative impact of currency fluctuations on North American companies - including the United States, Canada and Mexico - that quantified an exchange rate effect was $6.71 billion, FIREapps said in a report.
That was up from $6.47 billion in the first quarter of 2017 and down from $6.9 billion in the year-ago quarter.
The British pound
The foreign currency earnings of U.S. multinational companies are worth less in dollars when the dollar is stronger. A firmer U.S. currency also makes American-made goods and services more expensive overseas.
A U.S. dollar index (DXY), which measures the greenback against six major currencies, declined 4.7 percent in the second quarter and 2.7 percent in the third quarter of this year.