Sterling rose to a 7 week high versus the euro and a 6 week high against the dollar on robust UK data however structural problems facing the UK's economy are still expected to hamper gains in the mid-term.

Last week's run of positive UK data continued into Friday's session as producer output and input prices both rose more than expected. February's factory gate inflation number of 0.9% also showed a rise- more than double the increase analysts had forecast.

The pound posted further gains versus the under fire euro. Better than expected German import and export prices failed to lift a weakened single currency as Greek uncertainty continued to hamper sentiment. However during afternoon trading, the euro rose broadly as speculation intensified that Greece may soon receive help in dealing with its huge public debt load.

In the US, wholesale sales and inventories both posted increases in February. The news boosted investor risk appetite seeing an already weakened US dollar fall further. The greenback was under pressure on all sides. The greenback reached parity with its Canadian dollar counterpart, fell against the pound as UK data continued to impress and lost ground against the euro upon news that a definitive bail out package was to be offered to Greece.

Today is a quiet day data wise across all territories. Italian industrial output figures for February and the US Federal budget for March are the only releases of note.