Slow retail sales in UK hurt pound

Story link: Slow retail sales in UK hurt pound

A new report from the UK Office for National Statistics that retail sales were down by 0.1 percent there in October, adding another reason for the Bank of England to cut interest rates, sent sterling into decline on Thursday.

Also tending to weaken the pound was news from Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) that it took £1.3 billion in writedowns due to its exposure to the subprime crisis in the United States.

At just past 1:30 pm in New York, the US dollar was trading at $2.0444 to the pound while the yen stood at ¥226.9331 to the pound and the euro was at €1.3984 to the pound.

The yen and the Swiss franc both strengthened as equities markets declined and as worries over the credit crisis continued, sending investors fleeing from risk once again.

The yen traded at ¥111.0050 versus the US dollar while it was at ¥162.2780 against the euro and at ¥98.6834 in relation to the Australian dollar.

Meanwhile, the Swiss franc stood at SFr1.1235 to the US dollar, at SFr1.6424 to the euro and at SFr2.2967 versus sterling.

The US dollar was also stronger on the session, trading at $1.4619 to the euro in early afternoon trade in New York as investors looking for safe places to put their money bought US Treasury bonds.