China's Gross Domestic Product fell to its lowest level since records began in 1992. This news sent traders back into dollar-denominated assets and into the Japanese yen due to both currencies' safe-haven status.

Sterling

The pound dropped against the dollar, pulling back from a previous three-month high as traders took profits on the last week's sterling rally. There was some encouraging news from the housing market as property website, Rightmove, reported that house prices rose at their fastest rate in 14 months during April.

US dollar

The dollar yet again rose broadly on lingering concerns about the state of the global economy and the beleaguered banking system. Citigroup, General Electric and JP Morgan Chase all posted stronger than expected first quarter earnings reports. Dollar strength was mainly caused by risk aversion due to its safe-haven appeal rather than positive economic releases as inflation is expected to rise to three per cent which is still a looming concern as the US has already pumped trillions of dollars into restoring credit markets.

Euro

The euro weakened against the majors as it is still very unclear what unconventional measures the European Central bank will take at the next policy meeting. The eurozone's trade gap narrowed; however, this did nothing to revive the euro as other figures revealed that both exports and imports dropped by more than 20 per cent.

Japanese yen

The Japanese yen benefitted again from investors returning to the currency's safe-haven appeal and rose against all the other major currencies. Nevertheless, the world's second largest economy still remains mired in recession. According to the governor of the Bank of Japan, Mr Shirakawa, domestic demand remains weak and the financial system is still under heavy strain. Exports are still dropping dramatically, and the strength of the yen is only exacerbating the problem.