US dollar strengthens, sterling loses ground | Smart Daily Currency Note

Sterling

Friday saw sterling weaken against a lot of its major counterparts and particularly against the US dollar as a UK trade report showed the country's current account position has continued to deteriorate – counteracting the spate of good economic news following positive growth figures two weeks ago. Sterling slipped from around 1.56 against the US dollar on Thursday night to monthly lows of almost 1.53 by the close of the week: highlighting the UK's anaemic fiscal position. Sterlings weakness may be short lived should the Bank of England report an improved outlook for the country as the central bank Governor speaks on Wednesday following the release of important unemployment and inflation figures. All focus will be on these releases midweek, so be in touch to monitor sterlings progress.

Euro

The euro had mixed fortunes of Friday, making mild gains against most of its counterparts but it did however weaken against the US dollar. Over the weekend, policymakers in Europe suggested they are willing to to scale back austerity in an attempt to help kick start their ailing economies amidst high uncertainty lingering around the region. Unemployment remains rife and the European Central Bank is likely to come under pressure to continue it's easing cycle for the near future. Eurogroup meetings continue today in the wake of the G-7 meeting alongside industrial production and German economic sentiment data. With Germany starting to feel sustained pressure from it's economic responsibility in the eurozone, the release should have significant implications for price levels this week, so call in now for the latest updates and developments.

US dollar

The US dollar continued to perform well on Friday strengthening against all of its major counterparts. In his speech, the Chairman of the Federal Bank acknowledged that the US economy was still suffering from the financial crisis, but cooled speculation that another crisis could ever occur as he outlined that the central bank now oversees a much wide range of financial institutions. It is a busy week on the data front in the US with key releases including retail sales, inflation data, building permits and consumer sentiment. With so much data being released the potential for volatility remains high, so call in now for the latest news and an up to date quote.

Worldwide

Elsewhere, the main news was the continued decline of the Japanese yen where it weakened against the US dollar breaking through the 101 level for the first time in four years following comments by the Governor of the Bank of Japan who said the the central banks monetary policy is not aimed at manipulating the relative value of the yen. Furthermore, at the G-7 meetings over the weekend the finance ministers suggested they would tolerate the recent decline for the time being but would continue to monitor its effect closely. The Australian dollar also suffered on Friday after the Reserve Bank of Australia suggested that growth would be sluggish leading to some economists forecasting further rate cuts. This weeks releases includes retail sales from New Zealand, the annual Budget Release from Australia and manufacturing data from Canada. Call in now for a live quote and to speak to your trader.