The British sterling fell further against the other major currencies on Friday morning in New York. The pound set a fresh multi-year low against the US dollar and edged down to new multi-month lows against the euro and the yen in the early New York session today.
The GfK Group released its UK consumer confidence report for August in early trading today. The report showed that the consumer confidence indicator saw a surprise gain in August, climbing to a reading of -36. Economists had expected the sentiment to decline to -41 after the indicator had fallen to a record low of -39 in July.
Extending its recent downtrend, the pound dropped to a fresh multi-year low of 1.8189 against the US dollar by 11:50 am ET Friday. This may be compared to yesterday's close of 1.8298. Currently, the pair is trading at 1.8191.
In US, the Department of Commerce released its report on personal income and spending in July today. The report showed that personal income fell 0.7% in July following a 0.1% increase in June. Economists had been expecting a much more modest decrease of about 0.2%. At the same time, personal spending edged up 0.2% in July compared to a 0.6% increase in the previous month.
The pound ticked down to a new multi-month low of 197.67 against the yen by 11:30 am ET Friday, compared to yesterday's close of 200.38. As of now, the pound-yen pair is trading at 197.73.
The Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced today that Japan's core inflation, which excludes volatile changes in fresh food prices, increased 2.4% in July from a year earlier. Economists were forecasting the core CPI to rise to 2.3%. Overall CPI rose 2.3% in July, the fastest since October 1997 when it rose 2.5% and also the tenth consecutive monthly increase.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in Japan eased to 4.0% in July, down from the two-year high of 4.3% in June, and it also came in below analyst expectations of 4.1%.
Industrial production in Japan climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.9% in July compared to the previous month, with the index moving up to 107.9 from 106.9 in June.
Retail Sales in Japan increased 1.9% to 11.55 trillion yen or US$105.5 billion in July when compared to July of 2007. Sales at the wholesale level increased 10.9%.
The pound moved sideways against the Swiss franc in early New York morning on Friday. The pair was quoted at 2.0061 by 11.50 am ET, compared to yesterday's close of 2.0105. The pair traded as the Swiss August KOF Leading Indicator stood at 0.68 vs. rev. 0.85 in July. This may be compared to economists forecast of 0.83.
Against the euro, the pound reached a fresh multi-month low of 0.8078 around 10:55 am ET Friday. The euro-pound pair that closed yesterday's North American session at 0.8041 is currently trading at 0.8070.
Eurozone's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.3% in August for the third month in a row, the eurostat announced today. The jobless rate matched economists' expectations. A year ago, the rate of unemployment was 7.4%.
A flash estimate report from the Eurostat pegged Eurozone annual inflation at 3.8% for August. Inflation slowed from 4% in July. Economists were looking for an inflation rate of 4% for August.
Eurozone economic sentiment index deteriorated to 88.8 in August from 89.5 in July. Economists had expected the index to drop to 89.3 in August. Meanwhile, consumer confidence index rose slightly to minus 19 from July's 20 and services confidence climbed to 3 from 1.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.