The pound rose to the strongest in 18 months against the euro on speculation the U.K. economy will outperform the euro area as the region’s debt crisis deepens. Sterling climbed against 11 of its 16 major counterparts after an industry report showed asking prices for U.K. homes rose to a record in April. Gilts advanced as investors sought the safety of British government debt amid concern euro-region officials are failing to stem the debt crisis. The pound climbed 0.4 percent to 82.18 pence per euro at 9:34 a.m. London time after rising to 82.10 pence, the strongest level since Sept. 9, 2010. The U.K. currency was little changed at $1.5834. Sterling has appreciated 0.7 percent in the past month, the third best performer among 10 developed-nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The yen gained 4.7 percent and the dollar climbed 0.8 percent. The euro dropped 0.6 percent. Average asking prices for homes in England and Wales gained 2.9 percent in April, Rightmove Plc, the operator of Britain’s biggest property website, said today. Prices in London increased 2.1 percent from the previous month to a record 464,944 pounds. The yield on the 10-year gilt fell two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 2.03 percent. The 4 percent bond maturing in March 2022 rose 0.145, or 1.45 pounds per 1,000- pound face amount, to 117.605. The U.K. is scheduled to auction as much as 1.35 billion pounds of inflation-linked bonds due 2029 on April 19. It will sell bills the following day. To contact the reporter on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net

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