Sterling rose against most major rivals on Friday following better than expected growth data.

UK GDP growth clocked in at 0.5% last month, while analysts expected a 0.1% rise.

On trading, GBP/USD rose 0.8% as of 20:34 GMT to $1.3072.

Aussie

The Australian dollar rallied 1% against its US counterpart as of 20:34 GMT to 0.6285.

US Dollar

The dollar index fell 1% as of 20:25 GMT to 99.8, with a session-low at 99.01.

In yet another escalation to the devastating US-China trade war, Beijing raised tariffs on all US goods from 84% to 125%.

Its in response to US President Donald Trumps 145% tariffs on US goods, which were confirmed yesterday.

The latest escalation comes after a long series of reciprocal measures between both sides starting January 2018, when the US imposed tariffs on Chinese goods and accused China of unfair trade practices.

China asserted it will fight till the end and warned Trump that any escalation will be faced with similar responses.

China said it wont respond to any more tariff hikes from the US as it would be meaningless after this point, with American products already losing their viability in the Chinese market.

Bloomberg that China has restricted rare earth metals exports to near zero in response to the war.

Otherwise, earlier data showed US producer prices rose 2.7% y/y in March, slowing down from 3.2% in the previous reading, while analysts expected a 3.3% rise.

Core prices excluding food and energy, rose 3.3%, down from 3.5% in February, and below estimates of 3.6%.

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