The Pound to Dollar exchange rate is 0.610% higher on the day with 1 GBP = 1.6005 USD.
The Pound to Euro exchange rate is 0.106% lower with 1 GBP = 1.1746 EUR.
"The British Pound bounced back from a low of 1.1696 against the Euro, while the UK currency surged higher versus the U.S Dollar, as global risk appetite improved. UK stocks rallied by the most in two weeks this morning, reducing the appeal of the Dollar as a safe haven, as investors' appetite for riskier assets increased," says Adam Solomon at foreign exchange dealers TorFx.
The Irish central bank governor Patrick Honohan said that he expects the country to ask the European Union and the International Monetary Fund for a bailout to rescue its debt-ridden banks.
The benchmark FTSE 100 Index added 1.4% by midday in London, as Honohan confirmed that the Irish government will ask for a bailout worth "tens of billions" of Euros.
The improvement in global stocks reflects investors' sentiment that a bailout of Irish banks is drawing closer, but there is already speculation that Portugal could be the next peripheral Euro-zone country to ask for financial aid.
EU, IMF and ECB officials are in Dublin today to scan the books of the country's financial institutions, after Irish government bond yields soared over the past week.
The British Pound also gained ground against the majors despite speculation that UK banks may be exposed to the Irish debt crisis, while data today revealed that Britain had a larger budget deficit in October than initial estimates.
The shortfall was £9.8 billion, the largest for any October on record, while a separate report showed that retail sales rose for the first time in three months, as consumers look to make large-scales purchases before the planned VAT hike in January.
