Daily currency report

Unsurprisingly, the European Central Bank raised interest rates by a quarter point while elsewhere, the US non-farms payroll report continued to paint a gloomy picture of the health of the world's largest economy. On the exchanges, the dollar emerged as the winner however; it still remains vulnerable to bad news, coming under threat particularly from moves in the price of crude oil, which traded at a new record high above $146 per barrel.

Sterling (GBP)

With no data of note released in the UK, the sterling was very much left at the mercy of other currency activity, in particular the euro and US dollar. Although the pound was hit hard on both fronts, close of trading saw the pound claw back some ground.

US Dollar (USD)

In spite that data showed employment in the US outside the agricultural sector dropped for the sixth month in a row in June, with Independence Day holiday looming, investors opted to take profit on the greenback's recent decline and closed out their positions before the long weekend.

Euro (EUR)

The European Central Bank raised interest rates in the eurozone to 4.25 per cent to stem soaring inflation despite mounting political opposition and increasing signs of a contracting European economy. However, the ECB president, Jean-Claude Trichet, made plain it did not signal a series of rates increases.

Japanese Yen (JPY)

The yen weakened again on the back of yet another poor performance on the stock markets. The Nikkei share average fell by 0.2 per cent meaning Japan's leading stock exchange is in its longest losing streak in over 50 years. Japanese Economics Minister, Hiroko Ota, stated that that the combination of rising oil prices and the slowing US economy is directly affecting the Japanese economy.