(RTTNews) - The British pound showed mixed trading against its major counterparts in early European deals on Friday. While the pound climbed against the euro and the franc, it slipped versus the dollar and the yen.
European stocks opened higher today, extending its yesterday's rally, as tentative steps by euro zone policymakers to resolve Europe's debt crisis eased concerns over dollar-funding constraints for European banks.
The European Central Bank's announcement of three-month U.S. dollar liquidity-providing operations is a sign of close co-operation at the global level and of the "unity in purpose," European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet said.
However, we are not back to "business as usual" and all authorities need to implement swiftly all decisions to remain constantly ahead of the curve, Trichet added. The policymaker also warned against the potential threat to market stability posed by High Frequency Trading.
A meeting of European finance officials to discuss the sovereign crisis will take place in Wroclaw, Poland, today where Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner is expected to urge EU finance ministers to step up their crisis-fighting strategy.
U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is now trading at 5,364.70 - up 27.15 points or 0.5 percent over its previous close.
The pound is now worth 1.5765 against the dollar with 1.574 seen as the next downside target level. At yesterday's close, the pound-dollar pair was quoted at 1.5804.
Against the yen, the pound is currently worth 121.03, down from yesterday's close of 121.22. The near term support level for the pound-yen pair is seen at 120.8.
The pound rose to 1.3807 against the franc and 0.8746 against the euro at 3:25 am ET. As of now, the pound is worth 0.8755 per euro and 1.3790 against the franc. If the pound gains further, it may likley target 0.872 against the euro and 1.386 against the franc.
Looking ahead, the Eurozone trade data for July is due at 5:00 am ET.
Across the Atlantic, the Treasury Department is due to release a report on the flows of financial instruments into and out of the U.S. for July at 9 am ET.
At 9:55 am ET, the preliminary report of the Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey for September is expected.
