Consumer confidence report hurts pound

Consumer confidence report hurts pound

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The pound weakened versus the euro on Wednesday after a consumer report issued by the Nationwide Building Society reported UK consumer confidence to be at its lowest ebb since May 2004.

At just past 11:30 a.m. in New York the pound traded at 80.05p to the euro, at 50.63p to the US dollar, and at 50.54p in relation to the Swiss franc, while it took ¥201.0795 to buy a pound.

The yen made gains as worried investors again stepped away from buying higher-yielding currencies.

In late morning trade in New York, the yen traded at ¥101.8150 to the greenback while it was at ¥13.004 to the South African rand and at ¥81.226 to the New Zealand dollar.

The rand was hurt by speculation that South Africa’s reserve bank will hike interest rates on Thursday in response to rising inflation.

It took R7.8385 to buy a US dollar in late morning trade in New York.

Meanwhile, the US dollar weakened versus the euro on the chance that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again in April.

Sentiment toward another rate cut accelerated after the minutes of the Fed’s March meeting, released on Tuesday, noted a weakening in the US economy.

The dollar traded at $1.5810 to the euro in New York.