However, there was volatility as price action continues to be guided by broad trends in risk sentiment.
The pound was able to recover from heavy selling on Monday and tracked the euro higher and shrugged off poor manufacturing data as production fell as expected -0.2% vs -0.1% and July Industrial Production fell -0.4% vs -0.1% forecast. The pound traded with a low of 1.7505 and a high of 1.7708.
Commodity prices fell propping up the dollar against a back drop of poor Pending Home Sales numbers coming in weaker than expected. Oil fell over $4.00 a barrel as OPEC signaled it wouldn’t cut production and Hurricane Ike looked likely to miss the Gulf.
Lehman Brothers fell by more than 30% on suggestions that South Korean regulators would scuttle its investments in the Banking firm.
The UK Trade Balance report stands out as the single noteworthy release amid a variety of second tier data.