Elsewhere, the IMF Director Christine Lagarde poured cold water on the U.S. economy strength, as she said a pick-up in economic activity could appeared to be less robust than projected amid lower levels of investment and that risks remain in the U.S. even as its growth recovery accelerates. Nevertheless, the U.S labour market continues to strengthen, with the unemployment rate falling to 6.1% , a six-year low, spurring speculation on timing when the Fed should consider raising rates. Also, minutes from the last FOMC meeting showed that the Fed is ready to end QE in October, provided the economy continues to improve as the central bank expects.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England left its interest rates and asset purchase target unchanged last week despite criticism that policy makers send mixed signals on when borrowing costs will eventually start to rise and amid concerns that a strong Pound may choke off a recovery in Britain's economy. Thus, the MPC agreed to hold off on adding to the 375 billion pounds of asset purchases and leave its benchmark interest rate at an ultra low of 0.5%.
The greenback fell to one-week lows versus the Euro earlier in the week after Wednesday's minutes of the Fed's meeting indicated that interest rates are unlikely to rise soon. The Euro, however, remained under pressure as a plethora of weak economic data fuelled concerns over the outlook for the Euro zone's recovery, with EUR/USD trading at 1.3606 late Friday. The Pound inched lower versus the Dollar on Friday after weak U.K. construction data but remained supported above the 1.71 level, not far from almost six-year high.