Pound touches new low versus euro

Story link: Pound touches new low versus euro

The US dollar traded close to record lows versus the euro on Monday while the pound touched a new record low versus the shared currency during the session.

The pound was hurt by a report from Hometrack Ltd which showed that home prices in England and Wales were down 0.2 percent in March, to an average of £174,100, for a sixth consecutive month of declines.

Meanwhile the dollar was hurt by a survey from the National Association of Purchasing Managers - Milwaukee that showed its manufacturing index down to 47 in March from 53 in February.

The pound dropped by 8.2 percent versus the euro in the first quarter, its largest-ever quarterly decline versus the shared currency, while the dollar fell 8.4 percent versus the euro in the quarter.

At just past 11 a.m. in New York, the dollar traded at $1.5842 to the euro and the pound was at 79.69p to the euro after touching a low of 79.73p earlier.

The euro saw gains after consumer prices in the Eurozone were reported up 3.5 percent in March, their fastest rise in nearly 16 years.

The yen gained 12 percent versus the US dollar in the quarter and traded at ¥99.6650 to the greenback in late morning trade in New York, while at the same time it was at ¥157.8892 to the euro and at ¥198.1266 to the pound.

On the other hand, the South African rand dropped around 18 percent versus the dollar during the quarter.

Despite the decline, the rand was up on the greenback after it was reported that South Africa’s trade deficit was down to R5.8 billion in February from R10.2 billion in January and after gold and platinum prices gained on the session.

The rand traded at R8.1265 to the dollar in late morning trade in New York.