Investing.com - The pound rallied against most major currencies on Friday, hitting 4 month highs against the dollar and reversing its weekly decline.
Cable rose above the $1.36 level, at 12:45 GMT, GBP/USD was up 0.72% to 1.3636.
The pound’s rally reflected further weakness in the US dollar, particularly following weaker than expected PPI data from the US on Thursday, a precursor to inflation data from the US, which will be released on Friday afternoon.
Better than expected manufacturing production data on Wednesday from the UK had little impact on sterling, while the Bank of England published its Credit Conditions for the final quarter of 2017 on Thursday showing that banks saw a decrease in capital investments, also had little reaction.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.60% at 91.11.
The pound pared losses against the rallying euro on Friday, indicating sterling strength. EUR/GBP was up just 0.12% to 0.8899, down from the day’s highs of 0.8927.
The single currency hit a three year high against the dollar on Friday, EUR/USD was up 0.86% to 1.2135.
The euro soared following the European Central Bank’s meeting minutes, which were published on Thursday. The minutes from the December meeting indicated that the ECB may consider a gradual shift in guidance from early 2018.
The euro was also lifted on news that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had struck a deal with the Social Democrats to open coalition talks, marking the end of uncertainty since the federal election in September 2017.
The pound was up against safe haven currencies. GBP/JPY was 151.54, up 0.62%. GBP/CHF was 1.3240, an increase of 0.23%.
Official data earlier showed that China\'s exports increased more than expected by 10.9% in December, while imports rose by only 4.5% compared to expectations for a 13.0% climb.
The pound surged against commodity currencies, GBP/AUD jumped 0.98% to 1.7323, while GBP/NZD was up 0.78% to 1.8789.
GBP/CAD increased 0.76% to 1.7079.
Investors will be looking for reaction to inflation and retail sales data from the US on Friday afternoon. CPI data will be released on Tuesday for the UK, with retail sales figures released on Friday.