Sterling strengthens as FTSE recovers from 2012 lows

Published: 12 April, 2012

Sterling had a mixed day as the FTSE recovered from its 2012 lows yesterday, strengthening against the US dollar and the euro.

Smart currency - April 12

EURO/GBP - 1.2122

US$/GBP - 1.5924

CHF/GBP - 1.4577

CAN$/GBP - 1.5936

AUS$/GBP - 1.5322

ZAR/GBP - 12.651

JPY/GBP - 129.10

HKD/GBP - 12.3684

NZD/GBP - 1.9381

SEK/GBP - 10.795

AED/GBP - 5.8496

US$/EURO - 1.3140

INR/GBP - 81.92

The euro was fairly volatile yesterday as speculation about Spain's debt was at the forefront of traders' minds. However, the Italian bond auction was well received yesterday which saw Italian bond yields retrace from their historic highs; furthermore, rumors started to circulate that the European Central Bank may start to buy Spanish bonds once more which calmed the global markets.

The US dollar was generally weak yesterday as risk appetite returned to the market once more. On the data front, the Beige book revealed that the economy grew in all 12 of its regions at a 'modest to moderate 'rate. More unemployment data is released today alongside the monthly producer price index (PPI) and trade balance figures which will go some way to show the state of the world's largest economy.

Elsewhere, the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar performed fairly well yesterday as risk appetite returned to the market. This morning saw the release of labour data from Australia and later on today trade balance data from Canada will be released.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hcn1YVJGSw

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