BLBG:U.K. Pound Advances Versus Dollar as Retail Sales Advance
The pound rose the most this month against the dollar as a report showed U.K. retail sales rose for the first time in three months in March, boosting the appeal of British assets.
Sterling traded within 0.2 percent of a three-month high against the euro. Sales at stores open at least 12 months, measured by value, gained 1.3 percent from a year earlier, after sliding 0.3 percent in February, the London-based British Retail Consortium said today. Gilts declined before Britain auctions 4.5 billion pounds ($7.2 billion) of 1 percent notes due September 2017.
The pound advanced 0.3 percent to $1.5912 at 8:16 a.m. London time, after climbing as much as 0.7 percent, the most since March 30. The U.K. currency traded at 82.45 pence per euro, after appreciating to 82.30 pence on April 9, the strongest level since Jan. 9.
The U.K. currency has gained 0.8 percent this year, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes, which track 10 developed-nation currencies. The euro weakened 0.5 percent, and the dollar dropped 1.8 percent.
Ten-year gilts fell, pushing the yield two basis points higher to 2.03 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lukanyo Mnyanda in Edinburgh at lmnyanda@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net
