BLBG:Pound Gains Versus Dollar After Production Data as Gilts Decline
Sterling rose toward a six-week high against the dollar after U.K. industrial production increased in February more than economists forecast, boosting speculation the nation will avoid a triple-dip recession.
U.K. 10-year bonds declined for a second day after an auction of the securities attracted the lowest demand since June 2012. Sterling gained versus all but three of its 16 major peers after a gauge of manufacturing rose. The pound has climbed 1.9 percent in the past month, paring its decline this year to 4.3 percent, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes that track 10 developed-nation currencies, the second-worst performer after the yen.
“The production figures seem to have been taken very well,” said Lee McDarby, head of dealing on the corporate and institutional treasury desk at Investec Bank Plc in London. “Now that sterling has firmly handed its crown of whipping boy over to the yen it is good to see it get a bit of a boost from good figures. We think that triple-dip recession will be avoided.”
The pound rose 0.3 percent to $1.5301 as of 11:35 a.m. London time. It reached $1.5363 on April 5, the most since Feb. 20. Sterling climbed 0.1 percent to 85.18 pence per euro, after reaching 85.60 pence, the weakest since March 25.
U.K. industrial production expanded 1 percent in February, after dropping 1.3 percent the previous month, the Office for National Statistics said. The median estimate of 30 analysts in a Bloomberg News survey was for a rise of 0.4 percent. A similar report for the manufacturing industry showed an increase of 0.8 percent.
Debt Sale
The U.K. Debt Management Office sold 3.5 billion pounds of benchmark 10-year gilts, as it begins its 151 billion-pound issuance program for the 12 months through March 2014.
The securities were sold to yield 1.734 percent, down from 2.147 percent on Feb. 21. That compares with a record-low auction yield of 1.719 percent set on July 12. The so-called bid-to-cover ratio was 1.68, the least since June 2012.
The 10-year gilt yield rose four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 1.73 percent. The 1.75 percent bond due in September 2022 fell 0.3, or 3 pounds per 1,000-pound face amount, to 100.15. The rate fell to 1.625 percent yesterday, matching the April 5 low that was the least since Sept. 5.
An index of U.K. house prices increased to minus 1 in March from minus 7 in February, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said in an e-mailed report today, citing a monthly poll of property surveyors. Separately, the British Retail Consortium said its measure of retail sales rose 1.9 percent in March from a year earlier.
Gilts returned 1.9 percent this year through yesterday according to indexes compiled by Bloomberg and the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies. German bonds gained 1 percent and Treasuries rose 0.6 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: David Goodman in London at dgoodman28@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net
