BLBG:Pound Rises Against Euro on Greek Concern; Gilts Erase Decline
The pound strengthened for the first time in four days against the euro amid speculation an agreement to ease the terms of emergency aid for Greece will fail to stem the European debt crisis.
Sterling rose versus all except two of its 16 major counterparts after a report confirmed Britain’s economy exited a double-dip recession in the third quarter. Gross domestic product rose 1 percent from the prior three months, the same as reported on Oct. 25, the Office for National Statistics said. European finance ministers meeting in Brussels cut the rates on bailout loans, suspended interest payments for a decade, gave Greece more time to repay and engineered a Greek bond buyback.
“The market moves remain Greece-related,” said Brian Barry, a London-based analyst at Investec Bank Plc. “For all the work that went into the new deal, and all the grand statements of unity, you could argue that some of the forecasts are based upon relatively optimistic scenarios. Investors are likely to remain reluctant to draw a line under the Greek crisis just yet.”
The pound advanced 0.2 percent to 80.80 pence per euro at 10:52 a.m. London time after depreciating to 81.14 pence, the weakest level since Oct. 24. The U.K. currency was little changed at $1.6022.
The yield on the 10-year gilt was little changed at 1.84 percent after climbing to 1.88 percent, the highest level since Nov. 2. The price of the 1.75 percent bond maturing in September 2022 was at 99.195.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net