RTTN: Pound Plunges To Multi-day Lows Against Euro, Franc And Yen
(RTTNews) - During early European session on Tuesday, the pound slipped to multi-day lows against the yen, the franc and the euro as the Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said the U.K.'s recovery was fragile and risks to the MPC's central view of a gradual recovery remained to the downside.
Mervyn King and other members of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee were speaking before the UK Treasury's Select Committee.
The U.K. mortgage approvals report released at 4:30 am ET, which showed a sharp fall in January also exerted downward pressure on the pound.
British banks approved 35,083 mortgages for house purchases in January, down from the 45,650 approvals granted in December, data from the British Bankers' Association showed. Compared with the previous year, this represents an increase of 37.8%.
The number of remortgaging loans fell to 20,252 in January from 23,609 in December, representing a decline of 31.8% compared to the previous year.
The weak lending in January was a reaction to the inflated December market and the adverse weather conditions which impacted on activity, BBA said.
The pound slipped to a 12-day low of 1.6623 against the franc at 4:25 am ET. As of now, the pound-franc pair is worth 1.6631, compared to previous day's close of 1.6662. In Asian session, the pound hit a 4-day high against the franc.
The pound slipped to an 11-day low of 140.58 against the yen at 4:25 am ET. The present quote for the pound-yen pair is 140.73, compared to yesterday's close of 141.14.
Moving down from an Asian session's multi-day high, the pound slipped to 1.5453 against the U.S. dollar at 4:30 am ET. At present, the pound-greenback pair is worth 1.5468, down from yesterday's close of 1.5488.
The pound plunged to a 12-day low of 0.8830 against the euro at 4:30 am ET. Presently, the euro-pound pair is trading at 0.8829, compared to Monday's New York session close of 0.8784.
The euro gained against the pound despite an unexpected drop in German business confidence for February. The Ifo institute in Munich said its business climate index fell to 95.2 from 95.8 in January. Economists had expected the index to rise to 96.1.
The French and the Italian CPI for January and the Italian February consumer confidence reports, which were also released earlier in the day likely influenced the euro.
Looking ahead, the U.S. consumer confidence report and the Richmond Fed manufacturing index- both for February and the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for December have been slated for release in the upcoming New York session.
