The North American dollars were the winners on the week, but they were just half a cent or so ahead of sterling.
It was only on Friday afternoon (5 December) that the US dollar pulled ahead, helped by much better than expected employment data.
Including revisions to the previous two months, US nonfarm payrolls increased by 20 per cent more than expected.
The strong US number was enough to offset job losses in Canada, saving the 'Loonie' from the selling that would otherwise have occurred.
At the bottom of the pile the antipodeans both felt the draught of weaker-than-expected data from China, as well as specific disappointments of their own.
For the Kiwi, it was a further fall in milk prices. For the Aussie, it was growth of just 0.3 per cent in the third quarter, less than half the 0.7 per cent that investors had been looking for.
On Thursday (4 December), the European Central Bank president, Mario Draghi, announced another downgrade to the bank's economic outlook, with Euroland gross domestic product forecast to expand by 0.8 per cent this year, 1 per cent next year, and 1.5 per cent in 2016.
He also said there would be no fresh stimulus until next year, leading investors to believe that Germany's deep-rooted opposition to quantitative easing is leaving him sidelined in the governing council.
Sterling's relative success can only be explained by the way it kept a clean sheet in the monthly PMI shoot-out.
The purchasing managers' index for the UK manufacturing sector in November was a little higher on the month before at 53.4, and the reading for the services sector was up by two points at 58.6.
The initial reaction to the chancellor's autumn statement was positive but, after due consideration, investors toned down their enthusiasm, apparently because of concern that future spending cuts would have a dampening effect on the economy.
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