(RTTNews) - The British poundregistered gains against the currencies of Switzerland, Europe and Japan during Monday's early European session on the back of a rise in stocks. The pound rose to more than a 2-week high against the yen. But the pound eased from near a 6-week high against the greenback. At 6:04 am ET, U.K's benchmark FTSE 100 index was up by 50 points or 0.9% at 5,300. House price inflation in England and Wales slowed in June compared to May, latest figures show. The slowdown in price growth was due to a sharp increase in the number of properties coming on to the market following the abolition of Home Information Packs. Property website Rightmove said on Monday that asking prices for English and Welsh homes grew 0.3% month-on-month in June, following the 0.7% increase in the previous month. The average asking price stood at GBP 237,767 in June, up from GBP 237,134 a month ago. Following the Asian stock markets advance, the European stocks too opened higher today. Investors betting on higher-yielding assets after the Chinese central bank announced that it will no longer follow its two-year peg to the U.S. currency. China's central bank on Sunday said that it intends to keep the yuan "basically stable" and is not planning an immediate one-off revaluation of the currency. The comments come a day after the bank announced that it had decided to reform the exchange rate and make it more flexible. "At present there is no basis for major exchange rate fluctuations," the People's Bank of China said on its website. "The yuan will not undergo a one-off revaluation, serving market supply and demand will continue to act as a base, and adjustments will be made with reference to a basket of currencies." The pound that rose to near a 6-week high of 1.4939 against the U.S. dollar at 2:00 am ET Monday reversed its direction thereafter. The pound-greenback pair, which closed last week's trading at 1.4830, is now worth 1.4852. If the pound drops further, it may target around the 1.465 level. The pound has been extending its previous session's uptrend against the currency of Japan during Monday's early European deals. The pound hit more than a 2-week high of 136.06 against the yen. As of now, the pound is worth 135.89 against the yen, an appreciation of 3%, compared to last week's closing quote of 134.57. If the pound gains further, it may target around the 136.50 level. Against the euro, the pound rose to 0.8335 in early European deals, from an early Asian session's near 3-week low of 0.8386. On the upside, the pound may target around the 0.826 level.

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