Pound Sterling
GBP/USD – Trading in the Region of 1.6701
Before UK construction output data was published the Pound was enjoying its strongest week against the US Dollar since June. The British currency was also slightly stronger against the Euro despite the publication of surprisingly upbeat growth figures for the Eurozone.

US Dollar
USD/GBP – Trading in the Region of 0.5986
Less-than-impressive US retail sales and initial jobless figures piled pressure on the US Dollar yesterday and saw the safe-haven currency edge lower against the Pound and Yen. Before the weekend the University of Michigan’s confidence index could trigger further ‘Greenback’ movement. The sentiment gauge is forecast to have slipped from 81.2 to 80.2 in February.

Euro
EUR/USD – Trading in the Region of 1.3693
While political drama’s in Italy piled some pressure on the Euro, the common currency was still able to strengthen against its major rivals during local trading. Euro gains were enabled by reports showing better-than-forecast fourth quarter growth in Germany and France.

Australian Dollar
AUD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.9020
The ‘Aussie’ broadly softened this week as domestic employment figures fell short of forecasts, but the South Pacific asset recovered some of its losses overnight as Chinese consumer prices advanced at a faster pace than forecast.

New Zealand Dollar
NZD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.8379
As China is one of New Zealand’s main trading partners, the former nation’s CPI figures buoyed the ‘Kiwi’ during local trading. With influential economic news for New Zealand thin on the ground next week, movement in the ‘Kiwi’ will most likely be driven by Chinese and Australian data.

Canadian Dollar
CAD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.9134
As a comparatively quiet week of ‘Loonie’ trading comes to a close the commodity-driven currency is enjoying a more bullish relationship with its US rival thanks to yesterday’s lacklustre US retail sales data. During North American trading Canada’s manufacturing shipments report could have a modest impact on the Canadian Dollar.

Japanese Yen
USD/JPY – Trading in the Region of 101.8300
The Yen extended gains against the US Dollar overnight as markets reacted to a surprising slump in US retail sales. Japan’s currency could advance further as the day progresses if US industrial production data shows the slowing in output forecast by economists.

South African Rand
USD/ZAR – Trading in the Region of 10.9650
Although South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma attempted to restore confidence in the domestic mining sector in his speech on Thursday night, the Rand began local trading a little weaker against its US counterpart.