European session: the pound rose

The dollar weakened amid speculation minutes of last month’s Federal Reserve meeting will show the central bank is moving closer to expanding its stimulus program, boosting demand for higher-yielding currencies.

The U.S. currency slid against all but one of its 16 major peers. The Fed, led by Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, has already bought $2.3 trillion of bonds in two rounds of so-called quantitative easing, or QE, from December 2008 to June 2011, seeking to cap borrowing costs and stimulate the economy. The 17-nation euro dropped to a record low versus Australia’s dollar as data showed German inflation slowed.

The pound reached the strongest level since November 2008 versus the euro as concern legislation needed for Europe’s permanent bailout fund will be delayed boosted demand for the relative safety of the U.K. currency.

Sterling gained versus the dollar after a report yesterday showed U.K. factory output unexpectedly increased in May, easing speculation that the economy is worsening. Germany’s top court said yesterday a decision on whether to suspend legislation for the euro bloc’s permanent bailout fund and fiscal treaty could take months rather than weeks due to the complexity of the ruling.

EUR / USD: during the European session, the pair rose to $ 1.2295, then stepped back, and is now trading at $ 1.2267

GBP / USD: a pair of updated intraday high $ 1.5577

USD / JPY: during the session, the pair has updated intraday low Y79.15

At 12:30 GMT in Canada and the United States will balance the foreign trade balance for May. At 14:30 GMT the United States publish data on stocks of crude oil from the Ministry of Energy in July. At 17:00 GMT the U.S. puts 10-year bonds. At 18:00 GMT will publish the minutes of the Fed.