Various US companies whose earnings were pummeled when the dollar’s strength was soaring are beginning to benefit from a reversal in that trend. From mid-2014 to early 2015, the US Dollar Index, which measures the dollar’s value against six major foreign currencies, rose 25% as investors expected the dollar to benefit from rising US interest rates and higher yields on fixed-income investments. When companies translated their foreign sales into US dollars, the strong dollar was lowering revenue and earnings figures…and their exports were becoming less competitive in foreign markets.

Since early December, however, the Dollar Index has retreated 6%, partly because the Federal Reserve has scaled back plans for increases on short-term rates and rates in general have remained low.

This trend likely will continue, and even if the index just stabilizes at its recent levels, it will help boost sales growth by an average of 3% this year for companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index, which derive nearly half of their overall revenue from sales in foreign countries.

Stocks likely to benefit…

US multinationals that get most of their revenue from operations in other countries. Examples: McDonald’s (MCD), which is in 119 countries, and Fluor (FLR), the global engineering and construction firm.

Big US exporters. Examples include construction-equipment maker Caterpillar (CAT), aerospace and defense manufacturer United Technologies (UTX) and 3M (MMM), which makes more than 50,000 products.

US energy firms. Oil is priced globally in dollars, so a weakening dollar helps bolster oil prices. Example: Exxon Mobil (XOM).

Stocks likely to be hurt: Firms that rely on imports, which become more expensive as the dollar weakens. Examples: Target (TGT) and Wal-Mart (WMT).

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