Sterling ended the week on a high, hitting a 2 ½ month high against the euro as investors speculated that Europe may be expected to extend further aid to help Greece. The pound pushed through the €1.16/£1 barrier – the highest since mid-March - boosted by Asian demand and comments from Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker. Whilst it is clear that the UK does not carry the same issues as Greece, any potential gains against the euro are likely to be capped given the prospect of low interest rates in the UK until late 2011 at the earliest. Whilst Thursday was clearly a positive for many euro buyers, sterling is treading a fine line currently and could quite as easily drop back down. Out today, we have house price figures which on current form look set to disappoint.

In the euro zone, it was a poor day to end a poor week for the region. Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker spooked the markets on Thursday, suggesting that the IMF may not pay the next instalment of aid to Greece and Europe would need to step in and foot the bill, a scenario that would not go down well with the likes of Germany and France. This saw the single currency plummet across the board as investors scrambled to other currencies. The euro also hit a record low against the Swiss franc. Out today, we have German inflation data, so call in now for a live exchange rate.

In the USA, the US dollar slipped against sterling on Thursday after GDP figures came in lower than expected. Many had anticipated an upward revision to 2.2%, but it remained unchanged at 1.8%. In addition, despite an expected fall in the number of weekly jobless claims, this figure increased by 20,000. There is a wide array of data released today, so call in for a live exchange rate.

Elsewhere, the Chinese yuan hit a record high against the US dollar after Chinese authorities adjusted the mid-rate on the ‘pegged’ (i.e. fixed) exchange rate. The Chinese government is set to manipulate the exchange rate to tackle domestic issues such as high inflation, but with a weaker US dollar the yuan may not appreciate as much as they hope. Certainly an interesting one to keep an eye on.

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