BLBG:Pound Rises Third Day Versus Dollar as London House Prices Climb
The pound strengthened for a third day against the dollar as a report showed house prices in London climbed for a third month in November.
Sterling was little changed against the euro before the Bank of England publishes minutes of its policy meeting on Nov. 21. The central bank voted to end its current program of asset purchases at 375 billion pounds ($597 billion) at its meeting on Nov. 7-8. Policy makers next meet on Dec. 5-6. Prices in the U.K. capital increased 1.2 percent this month, according to Rightmove Plc. (RMV) Nationally, values fell 2.6 percent, the operator of Britain’s biggest property website said in a report today.
The pound gained 0.2 percent to $1.5914 at 7:42 a.m. London time, after dropping to $1.5829 on Nov. 15, the lowest since Sept. 5. Sterling traded at 80.24 pence per euro. It reached 80.65 pence on Nov. 15, the weakest level since Oct. 31.
Sterling has gained 1.6 percent this year, the third-best performer after the New Zealand dollar and the Norwegian krone of the 10 developed-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The euro declined 2.7 percent and the dollar dropped 1.1 percent.
Gilts returned 3.5 percent this year through Nov. 16, according to indexes compiled by Bloomberg and the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies. German bunds gained 4 percent and U.S. Treasuries earned 2.8 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anchalee Worrachate in London at aworrachate@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net
