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The euro touched a five month low against sterling and a fresh six month low against the dollar, as investors continued to penalise Greece further with relentless selling of its debt. The yield on Greek government debt continued to rise, climbing to its widest since Greece joined the Euro-zone in 2001.  Spain’s unemployment rate, the highest in the euro region, rose more than economists expected in the forth quarter. The unemployment rate rose to 18.8 percent from 17.9 percent in the previous three months. A preliminary estimate of January’s CPI released today is expected to show the annual pace of inflation 1.2%.

Data released yesterday showed UK consumer confidence rose to -17 in January, slightly better than the consensus of -18. An S&P report noted that Britain’s weak economy would continue to hinder the credit profile of the banking industry, and it expected the unwinding of high levels of debt to weigh heavily on the UK’s economic prospects.

The main data release today is the advanced reading of U.S. Q4 GDP figures, with the market anticipating a rise of 4.7%, with anticipation enhanced with the recent releases of Chinese and UK growth readings. A positive surprise could bring forward any rate hike expectations to the dollar’s benefit.

The market is now becoming more risk adverse by the day and we expect this to be increase in the coming weeks.