The British pound remained at a 26-year high against the dollar, in spite of data from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors that revealed a sharp slowdown in house price growth during June. The dollar continued to fall in value against other leading currencies amid concerns about mounting threats to the US economy. On a final note, global oil prices briefly moved above $77 a barrel; an 11-month high.

GBP
Speculation on the pound was confined to the RICS housing price balance report, as underlying price action remained higher than the 2.03 support figure. Although widely disregarded on the heels of the US trade balance report in New York, the survey did spark some suggestions that the recent string of BOE rate hikes may be taking effect.

USD
The dollar continued to weaken against the other major currencies even though economic data was better than expected. The Trade Balance result fell exactly at consensus estimates of a $60.0 billion deficit but Initial Jobless Claims fell to their lowest since May.

EUR
The euro set new record highs against the US dollar and against the Japanese yen. The impetus was from an unexpected revision to first quarter GDP to 3.1 per cent from a year earlier, led by business investment and surprisingly, export growth. Furthermore, with expansion in the eurozone remaining so resilient, the ECB will be more likely to enact policy tightening this year.

JPY
Economic data made little impact as the market looked at the highly anticipated Bank of Japan monetary policy meeting, only to be disappointed in the overnight session. As expected, the decision was to leave the benchmark rate alone at 0.50 per cent.

Commercial Foreign Exchange Travelex Malta, freephone: 800 77 33 22, www.travelex.com/mt/