Last month, the U.S. dollar staged a rally, but foreign currency exchange traded funds (ETFs) still pulled through with some decent performance.

The top performer was the WisdomTree South African Rand (SZR), which returned 7.6% in July, reports Jesse Emspak for Investors Business Daily.

Although the dollar rose up against the British pound and yen, it fell against the rand by 5.4%.

Also ahead of the dollar were the BRIC currencies, particularly the WisdomTree Dreyfus Brazilian Real (BZF). The fund was up 3.3% for the month.

The dollar has fallen against the Mexican peso by 8.2% since the start of the year. CurrencyShares Mexican Peso Trust (FXM), up 13% year-to-date, reflects this.

Among the funds that have one-year records, the numbers are impressive:

• CurrencyShares Euro Trust (FXE) is up 18% in the last year
• CurrencyShares Australian Dollar Trust (FXA) is up 17.1% in the last year, although it has taken a hit in the last month by falling 1.3%

Some of the top-performing funds belong to currencies in emerging markets. Why? High interest rates.

Read the disclosure, as Tom Lydon is a board member of Rydex Funds.

Tags: Australia, Australian Dollar, Brazil, Brazilian Real, BZF, Currency ETFs, Emerging Markets, Euro, FXA, FXE, FXM, Latin America, Mexican Peso, Mexico, South Africa, SZR