The British pound’s woes continued and may extend further despite British Prime Minister David Cameron suspended his speech about the UK’s EU membership plans. Investors will instead focus on UK retail sales figures as pressure mounts on UK assets ahead of crucial British fourth-quarter GDP data.

The euro has made a cautious start as investors eye a meeting between eurozone officials. However, the single currency received another major boost after stress-free bond auctions and lower borrowing costs in some of Europe’s debt-heavy nations underlined confidence in the region’s ability to hold down the debt crisis.

US economic data also supported this view, but while the US dollar has inevitably seen its safe haven appeal knocked lower, investors in North America still remain concerned about faltering negotiations to raise the US debt ceiling.

Sterling

Sterling took another plunge against the euro, falling to its weakest exchange rate since March 2012, after a further softening of worries related to eurozone sovereign debt saw investors loosen safe haven ties with the UK currency.

The pound is also in danger of additional losses against the US dollar as investors remain nervous ahead of Bank of England minutes and Britain’s fourth-quarter GDP data.

Prime Minister David Cameron has been forced to reschedule a planned speech on Britain’s EU membership, side-lining, for a few days at least, anxiety about the UK’s business relations with its biggest trading partner.

US dollar

Economic data detailing a record jump in US housing and a sharp fall in US weekly jobless claims cut further into the US dollar’s safety appeal during North American trading session.

However, selling of the defensive greenback failed to keep up with gains in equity markets after a weak regional manufacturing report underscored caution about the strength of the US economic recovery, while investors still remain concerned about stop-start US government debt negotiations.

Euro

With the single currency firmly set in its bullish mode, the euro registered fresh highs against the pound, US dollar and yen. Stronger-than-expected economic data from the Chinese economy may encourage investors to keep a tight hold of the single currency; although, some traders could cash-in on the euro’s advance before a meeting between eurozone officials.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.