The pound and the euro were the main victors, clawing back some of the losses suffered against the dollar. A wave of safe haven buying after a low key assessment of the US economy by the Federal Reserve saw the dollar initially strengthen. However, this subsided as the positive data from the UK and Europe enticed investors back into riskier appetites, ultimately costing the dollar the majority of its previous night's gains.

Sterling
Sterling rallied against the dollar after the release of strong UK retail sales data, thus alleviating some qualms over the economy. The pound was boosted by stronger than expected retail sales data, chiefly attributed to the strong sales of electrical goods after the World Cup.

US dollar
The dollar suffered broadly and remained on the back foot, despite Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke stating that the US economy faced an "unusually uncertain" outlook. Mr Bernanke's testimony had initially raised concerns over the global economy and restored its appeal as a safe-haven currency. However, the dollar tumbled broadly against the euro, the pound and a basket of other currencies; as a strong rally in risky assets triggered a fresh wave of investor confidence.

Euro
The euro managed to claw back some losses against the dollar. Strong eurozone economic data and US corporate earnings rekindled hopes for the world economy and whetted investor appetite for risk. The euro was supported by strong PMI data and eurozone confidence data which revealed that an index of eurozone consumer sentiment rose to -14.1 in July, from -17.3 in June. This represented a far better figure than the forecast of -17.

Japanese yen
Official figures revealed that the Japanese all-industry activity rose by 0.2 per cent in May, which exceeded analysts' forecasts. Although the overall trend in recent weeks has been a strengthening yen, the last session saw the Japanese currency weaken as risk appetite returned to the market in the wake of positive European data.

Commercial Foreign Exchange Travelex Malta, freephone: 800 733 22, www.travelex.com/mt/

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