BLBG:Pound Strengthens Against Dollar Before U.K. Retail Sales Data
The pound strengthened versus the dollar, approaching a two-week high, before a report that economists said will show U.K. retail sales increased for the first time since September last month.
Sterling gained versus 13 of its 16 major counterparts. Sales including fuel rose 0.4 percent from January, when they declined 0.6 percent, according to the median forecast of 20 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The pound rose yesterday as minutes of the Bank of England’s most recent policy meeting showed some officials said increasing bond purchases to stimulate growth may cause an “unwarranted depreciation of sterling.”
The pound strengthened 0.2 percent to $1.5123 at 7:47 a.m. London time, after climbing to $1.5186 yesterday, the highest since March 5. The U.K. currency appreciated 0.1 percent to 85.56 pence per euro, after reaching 85.05 pence on March 19, the strongest since Feb. 11.
Sterling has tumbled 4.7 percent this year, the second- worst performance after the yen, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes, which track 10 developed-nation currencies. The euro gained 1 percent and the dollar climbed 3.2 percent.
U.K. gilts returned 1 percent this month through yesterday, according to indexes compiled by Bloomberg and the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies. German bunds gained 0.4 percent, and Treasuries fell 0.4 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lukanyo Mnyanda in Edinburgh at lmnyanda@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net
