Sterling two faced, gaining ground against the euro but weakening against the dollar.

Sterling continued its recent trend on Friday, reaching the highest level in eight years against the euro, whilst falling further away against the US dollar following a better-than-expected US jobs report. Having enjoyed a period of gaining ground against the US dollar, sterling lost over three cents last week and is close to 1.50, a key support level.
The week ahead is a quiet week for UK data releases following a very busy week last week. Manufacturing production figures on Wednesday are the first major data release of the week. With dipping growth seen recently in the UK, a positive reading here could see sterling gain ground. With little important data set to be released from elsewhere, attention will be turned to the US for retail sales and inflation data towards the end of the week.