GBP heads for 11-week high against USD, makes gains against EUR, AUD, NZD

Published: Wednesday, 1 May 2013 10:00 BST - Written by David Woodsmith

STORY LINK GBP heads for 11-week high against USD, makes gains against EUR, AUD, NZD

The Pound has strengthened against the majority of its peers, approaching a 11-week high against the US Dollar after an industry report showed that UK house prices were little changed in April.

Data showed that UK house prices declined in April. Economists had been expecting prices to rise by 0.3%, instead they declined by -0.1%. On a year-by-year basis, house prices improved by 0.9%. Economists had expected the data to show a 1.3% improvement. Despite the data being slightly less than economist predictions the 0.9% rise is the biggest annual increase in house prices for 14-months.

Sterling was also supported by data that showed that UK manufacturing improved last month and the slowdown in the sector was almost halted. The monthly PMI rose to 49.8 from 48.6. Any figure above 50 means growth. New export orders rose for the first time in more than a year and at the fastest pace since July 2011 on the back of increased sales to North America, the Middle East, Latin America and Australia. But demand from the Eurozone remained sluggish.

There was also good news on inflation, with manufacturers' selling prices rising at the slowest pace since November while lower commodity and energy prices contributed to the first dip in their input costs since August.

The ‘Greenback’ fell for a fifth day against the majority of its peers, its longest losing streak since September 2012, due to rising speculation that the Federal Reserve won’t slacken its bond buying programme as long as the economy continues to show signs of weakening. Today’s job data is expected to show that U.S private employers added the lowest number of new jobs for six months.

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