httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMGQvUKp4oY

It was definitely a day of two Gs yesterday as both Goldman Sachs and Greece struggled to get out of the limelight causing FX markets to oscillate pretty wildly during the session.

Goldman, who are being investigated for Fraud by the SEC and FSA, published their Q1 earnings figures and for a company whose CEO believes they are ‘doing god’s work’ the figures were truly biblical. Profits of $3.5bn, EPS of $5.59 and bonuses to be paid of $5.49bn. The only noises you could hear in the immediate aftermath were applause and the sharpening of regulatory knives. Their shares finished X% lower.

Greece continues to be a worry in financial markets although the news has been relegated to the middle pages as the election and the Goldman story battle for top spot. The yield on Greek debt, the price it has to pay to borrow money, rose to a 6 year high and the spread over German debt to an all-time record as unemployment rose. IMF representatives and ECB officials are due in Greece today to discuss structured loans to the country; any news is likely to see EUR strengthen short-term before easing off once again.

GBP is up in the overnight session moving to the1.1465 against the euro and a high of 1.5410 against the US dollar which is widely been put down to the IMF plan for a bank tax and the re-opening of UK airports.

The IMF plan is audacious to say the least. A tax on banks that should make up anywhere between 2 and 4% of the relevant country’s GDP and set aside to deal with future recessions This has been welcomed by politicians in the UK and Europe but a global consensus will be needed to ensure arbitrage opportunities do not exist. This means getting the US and Canada along for the ride as well. This would normally be an impossible task but Obama may be able to capitalise on the anti-banker sentiment still feeding through the US to push it through.

Sterling was pushed higher yesterday by our notoriously sticky inflation, and we have yet more important data today at 09.30. UK Jobless Claims and the unemployment rate, both hot-button election topics, are due at 09.30 and Gordon Brown will be hoping that the figures continue to show improvement. The Bank of England’s minutes are also due but are unlikely to show too much as far as policy shifts.