The South African rand, otherwise known as the ZAR, has seen dramatic fluctuations in its value when compared with the US dollar.

Since we last spoke, the eurozone has come out of recession following six successive quarters of contraction. These days growth of just 0.3pc is cause for optimism given what the world has been through over the past five or so years.

The second quarter numbers were the last official GDP numbers before the Bank of England publishes updated forecasts in its August Inflation Report. At a first glance, the upbeat data seems to weaken the need for more stimulus from the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee.

Gold is known as the safe haven investment because it appreciates in value throughout economic uncertainty. But gold’s rise could mean the dollar’s fall as investors move to ensure their portfolio futures.

In the USA, the Fed doesn’t seem to be able to make its mind up. One minute it is causing wide-scale panic by hinting that stimulus is coming to an end. The next, it is rowing back with dovish statements and the suggestion that ultra-loose monetary policy will be with us for the foreseeable, sending markets into a joyous spin.

Talking of the Fed, there has been a lot of action across the pond in recent days. First from President Obama, who has suggested Ben Bernanke’s tenure as chairman is drawing to a close, and second from Bernanke himself, whose comments on Wednesday evening fuelled expectations that the Fed will begin to unwind its monetary support sooner rather than later.

While the markets appear to be in bullish mood, I’m afraid economists are not and the resounding message I’m getting from my friends in the City is that there is still a lot of work to be done before a sustainable recovery is underway.

Positive market sentiment has certainly been rising continuously over the last few months – certainly amongst US investors and in particular institutional ones. The financial crisis, the 2000 tech bubble, the MBS collapse – all have seemingly been consigned to the nether regions of investors’ memories.

As the economic situation appears to be easing at home, there is a sense that the global picture is generally improving too. Elsewhere, commodities have been the worst-performing asset class so far this year and despite some respite from positive Chinese economic data earlier this month, look likely to slide even further.

George Osborne must have felt like Harry Houdini last week after the UK economy escaped falling into the dreaded triple-dip recession so many people had feared. The view from the square mile is that Osborne must now turn this modest growth into a sustainable recovery.