FRS: Pound gains against dollar after UK's retail sales grew
The pound rose for the first day in three against the dollar as a report showed U.K. retail sales rose for a second consecutive month in November.
Sterling rebounded after reaching a two-week low against the U.S. currency yesterday. Government bonds were little changed before a sale of 825 million pounds ($1.3 billion) of inflation-linked bonds maturing in 2042. Sales climbed 0.3 percent from October, when they increased 0.7 percent, the Office for National Statistics said today in London, matching the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey.
"Firm U.K. retail sales today should halt cable's drop," analysts at UniCredit SpA including senior currency strategist Roberto Mialich wrote in an e-mailed note today, referring to the pound-dollar currency pair.
The pound gained 0.3 percent to $1.5593 after reaching $1.5531 yesterday, the lowest level since Dec. 2. It was little changed at 85.06 pence per euro.
The 10-year gilt yield was little changed at 3.63 percent.
