BLBG:Pound Weakens for Fourth Day Against Euro Before Second Quarter GDP Report
The U.K. pound weakened for a fourth day against the euro before a report economists forecast will confirm growth slowed in the second quarter.
Sterling snapped a two-day decline versus the dollar. The Office of National Statistics will endorse gross domestic product grew 0.2 percent in the three months to June, after expanding 0.5 percent in the previous quarter, according to the median prediction of 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. A separate ONS index will show service-industry output contracted 0.1 percent in June, from 1.6 percent growth in May, according to another Bloomberg survey.
Britain’s currency depreciated 0.3 percent to 88.54 pence per euro at 8:42 a.m. in London. It was 0.2 percent stronger at $1.6305.
U.K. bonds were little changed with the yield on 10-year gilt at 2.47 percent and that on the two-year note at 0.58 percent.
The pound weakened yesterday against nine major developed- market peers tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Currency Indexes yesterday after an industry report showed U.K. consumer confidence dropped in July, fueling concern the economic recovery is faltering.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Ballard in London at eballard2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Keith Campbell at k.campbell@bloomberg.net
