The pound enjoyed a healthy trading session rising against all major currencies. It was aided by a return of risk appetite and the Confederation of British Industry’s survey that showed UK retail sales growing to a three-year high. The US dollar found itself under pressure in the aftermath of US weekly jobless claims data. The number of claimants fell which lifted investor sentiment and increased risk appetite. Data revealed that the German economy grew in the second quarter but concerns about peripheral eurozone economies weighed on the euro.

Sterling

Sterling rose against the dollar along with other higher-yielding currencies. A bounce in global stock markets prompted investors to pare positions in safe havens like the US dollar and Japanese yen. A much stronger-than-expected UK retail sales survey also helped sterling.

US dollar

US weekly jobless claims beat expectations coming in at 473k. This bettered the 490k that had been forecast and was significantly lower than last week’s reading which was revised upward to 504k. The news eased some of the concerns regarding a potential double dip scenario for the US economy and prompted a small relief in the dollar. The dollar weakened against an ever strengthening pound and ended the session down against the euro. However, the greenback did rebound against the yen in the aftermath of the jobless claims data.

Euro

Germany’s economy continued to set the pace in the eurozone and bank lending in the bloc shows signs of reviving too. However, Spain and Italy face a harder road to recovery. The euro ended the session up against both the US dollar and Japanese yen however was down against the pound.

Japanese yen

The yen eased as comments from senior Japanese government officials seemed to point to some sort of intervention to halt the unit’s recent sustained gains which are threatening exports, Japan’s economic lifeline. Japanese officials have been under pressure to show concrete plans to act on the yen’s strength.

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

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