(RTTNews) - Monday during early deals, the pound tumbled against its major counterparts as U.K. stocks opened lower today. The pound thus plummeted to a 10-day low against the dollar.
Britain's top share index paused for breath in early trade today after hitting a 10-month closing high on Friday, with heavyweight oils, banks and miners leading the market lower.
At 4:17 am ET, the FTSE 100 .FTSE was down 32.22 points, or 0.7 percent, at 4,699.34, after closing up 0.9 percent, or 41.03 points, at 4,731.56 on Friday following upbeat employment data in the U.S.
A survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed that firms in the UK are finding it easier to access credit for the first time in 2009 and expect the situation to improve at a similar pace over the coming three months.
According to the latest Access to Finance Survey, nearly 27% of firms said credit availability had improved, while 10% said conditions had deteriorated, resulting in a net balance of positive 18%, following a negative 20% reported in May. This was the first improvement since the survey began in January.
The pound had come under pressure since the BoE's decision last week to expand its asset buying programme to 175 billion pounds, much higher than expectations, which took markets by surprise given some recent brighter economic data.
The pound weakened to a 10-day low of 1.6613 against the dollar in early deals on Monday. The next downside target level for the U.K. currency is seen at 1.635. At last week's close, the pound-dollar pair was quoted at 1.6696.
In early deals on Monday, the pound fell to 161.79 against the yen. This may be compared to Friday's close of 162.78. If the pound-yen pair slips further, it may likely target the 160.6 level.
According to a report from the government, Japanese core machinery orders rose 9.7% in June from the previous month. The rise was much bigger than the 2.9% increase expected on average by economists. The Cabinet Office data also showed core machinery orders fell 29.7% from a year earlier in June.
In another news, Japan's current account surplus rose 144.4% from a year earlier in June, data from the Finance Ministry showed today, marking the first increase in 16 months and boding well for the nation's export-reliant economy. The surplus in the current account, the broadest measure of Japan's trade with the rest of the world, stood at Y1.153 trillion in June before seasonal adjustment, the data showed.
