Central banks came to the fore as the US Federal Reserve unsurprisingly kept interest rates on hold while the minutes of the most recent Bank of England policy meeting revealed that contrary to market expectations, the minutes showed that Committee member Andrew Sentence had voted to increase interest rates from their current level of 0.5 per cent, sending sterling higher across the board as markets reassessed the UK's interest rate outlook.

Sterling

The pound's rally continued as markets continued to digest the Chancellor's emergency budget. It would seem that for the time being markets are convinced that George Osbourne has done enough to preserve the UK's AAA debt rating, and investors have apparently accepted that the record sized fiscal deficit will be cut swiftly.

US dollar

In a disappointing session for dollar bulls, the greenback fell back against sterling and also pared earlier gains against the euro after the US Federal Reserve reiterated its pledge to keep interest rates low for the foreseeable future.

Euro

The euro hovered close to a one-week low against the US dollar and also remained under pressure against sterling as depressed investor sentiment and renewed worries about the health of banks kept pressure on the single currency.

Japanese yen

The yen remains well supported across the exchanges as markets continue to digest the government's plans to rein in its debt. New Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, announced a report in which he made fiscal reform his top priority in order to preserve Japan's own AAA credit rating.