Sterling reaches fresh highs against euro

Published: 10 April, 2012

Sterling weakened against the US dollar and rallied to a two and a half month high against the euro on Thursday as fears surrounding Spain dominated the markets.

Currency rates - April 10

EURO/GBP - 1.2118

US$/GBP - 1.5882

CHF/GBP - 1.4568

CAN$/GBP - 1.5826

AUS$/GBP - 1.5436

ZAR/GBP - 12.492

JPY/GBP - 129.12

HKD/GBP - 12.3278

NZD/GBP - 1.9357

SEK/GBP - 10.732

AED/GBP - 5.8324

US$/EURO - 1.3092

INR/GBP - 81.30

The Bank of England left rates unchanged at 0.5% and kept the asset purchasing program on hold as widely expected. On Friday and Monday, sterling's rallies continued against the euro reaching fresh highs whilst strengthening against the US dollar.

The euro had a particularly poor day on Thursday as worries about Spain were at the forefront of traders' minds. The euro recovered somewhat on Friday and Monday following the poor unemployment data released from the US and due to thin trading due to the bank holidays followed across much of the world.

The US dollar was strong against the euro and sterling on Thursday as fears surrounding Spain drove the market. Poor employment data released on Friday weakening the US dollar against the majority of currencies; moreover, the US dollar continued to be sold off throughout most of yesterday.

Elsewhere, Thursday saw the release of strong unemployment data from Canada. The €1.20/Chf1 peg was momentarily breached on Friday, but, a member of the Swiss National Bank said it is willing to buy foreign currencies in "unlimited quantities" to enforce the peg. Yesterday, trade balance data from Japan beat the market's expectations; moreover, figures released showed that Chinese inflation accelerated more than initially anticipated. This week the other main releases includes the official call rate from Japan and its monetary policy statement, Chinese GDP and Trade Balance data, Canadian trade balance data and unemployment data from Australian.

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