BLBG:Pound Declines Before Report That May Show Retail Sales Dropped
The pound fell against the dollar to its lowest level in almost a week before a report that economists said will show U.K. retail sales fell in July.
Sterling slipped from yesterday’s two-week high against the euro. Sales including auto fuel fell 0.1 percent from June, according to the median estimate of 22 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Excluding fuel, sales declined 0.2 percent, a separate survey shows. Gilts were little changed before a sale of 1.5 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) of 4.5 percent bonds maturing in September 2034.
The pound declined 0.3 percent to $1.5644 at 8:12 a.m. London time, and touched $1.5637, the lowest level since Aug. 10. It was less than 0.1 percent weaker at 78.42 pence per euro after reaching 78.25 pence yesterday, the strongest level since Aug. 2.
Britain’s currency has fallen 2.9 percent in the past three months, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes, which track 10 developed-nation currencies. The dollar dropped 1 percent and the euro fell 4.9 percent.
The 10-year gilt yield was at 1.68 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Emma Charlton in London at echarlton1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net
