After a volatile day of trading, sterling rose against a basket of currencies boosted by the official announcement that David Cameron was to be the new prime minister. The euro saw little support and found itself down against both the US dollar and pound. With very little data out from the US, the greenback found itself benefiting from risk aversion market, as did its safe haven Japanese yen counterpart, and this aided its rise against a basket of currencies particularly the single currency.

Sterling

The pound saw a boost as British industrial production was revealed to have risen two per cent on the month in March, its fastest monthly pace since July 2002. However, these gains were quickly erased as Britain's main political parties scrambled to form a new government. Late on in the session, sterling strengthened against the euro and clawed back earlier losses against the greenback as later in the evening, David Cameron was appointed the new Prime Minister.

US Dollar

For most of the day the US dollar was on top against both the pound and the euro. Following a lack of confidence in the recently announced $1 trillion rescue package, market sentiment was very much risk averse.

Euro

The euro fell on against a basket of currencies as the relief rally, triggered by a $1 trillion rescue package aimed at stabilising the eurozone sovereign debt, began to fade and markets refocused their attention on Europe's debt problems. The euro dropped back against both the pound and the US dollar.

Japanese Yen

The low yielding yen posted strong gains, reversing some of its previous days losses, as concerns over the eurozone debt crisis returned sparking renewed risk aversion among investors. The yen found itself up against the US dollar and euro as Japanese exporters sold off other currencies as the repatriated funds.