Sterling's recent sell off continued after trade balance figures disappointed and market concerns over the UK's level of sovereign debt increased. The greenback is enjoying safe haven inflows as markets grow more and more cautious. Elsewhere, the euro suffered across the board, slipping back towards 14-month lows against the US dollar.

Sterling

The pound fell further, extending the losses that had began on Wednesday. The catalyst for the sell-off was a further widening of the UK's trade balance. March saw the gap widen to £7.52 billion from February's figure of £6.31 billion, fuelled by a surge in imports. Disappointingly the level of exports held steady with little evidence on offer that the weaker pound is fuelling demand in overseas markets for British goods.

US dollar

With risk appetite all but disappearing as a result of the sovereign debt crisis raging in Europe, the US dollar strengthened across the board. Markets remain deeply concerned that the series of proposed cutbacks in government spending would need to in the indebted countries will negatively affect GDP, seriously hampering the nascent global recovery.

Euro

In the absence of any key data releases , the euro fell as fears that the fiscal tightening indebted countries may have to employ, will seriously hamper growth across the eurozone as a whole. Worries have also resurfaced that the proposed emergency fund and loan guarantees as agreed by the IMF and European Central Bank for struggling member states will be insufficient to prevent those countries from defaulting on their debts the last couple of sessions. This has served to further weaken the single currency.

Japanese yen

The Japanese yen continues to confound markets. Japan has the highest level of debt in the developed world, interest levels of next to zero and is in an, at best, fragile recovery, yet its currency continues to see massive gains on the bank of safe haven buying. Concerns surrounding the sovereign debt in eurozone countries and the United Kingdom have yet to affect Japan. As a result the yen continues to improve as investors seek safer investments protected from European turmoil.