UK house price gauge helps Greenback to score high
The British Pound fell for a second day against the U.S Dollar after a U.K. house price gauge was weaker than the forex online market had forecasted, a sign the country’s recovery may be running out of steam. The Sterling slid against 15 of its 16 major currency partners, following the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) report that housing prices within the U.K rose by 17%, falling far below market expectations of a 30% increase. After tumbling 0.64% against the USD yesterday, to close at $1.50530, the Pound continued to slide. Following the release of the worse than expected RICS House Price Balance, the GBP touched $1.49745, down 0.52% from yesterday’s closing.
According to the BRC Retail Sales Monitor, UK retail sales saw a renewed strong growth in February following January’s unexpected weak outturn, due primarily to the unseasonably cold weather and the hike in Value Added Tax. Like-for-like sales rose 2.2% on the year and total sales were up 4.5% from February 2009. Over the three-month period of Dec-Feb like-for-like sales were 2.1% up on a year ago and total sales were 4.1% higher. The BRC said that sales had been boosted by the poor performance of retailers in February 2009, when like-for-like sales had dropped 1.8%, hit by snow and consumer caution.
Canadian housing starts rose more than expected for a second straight month as multiple-dwelling projects soared, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported yesterday. Housing Starts increased by 6.1% in February, strengthening views that the residential sector is a key leader pulling the economy out of recession. New home construction rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 196,700 units from a revised 185,400 units in January. Following this stronger than expected data, as the USD/CAD stuck a six-week high against its American counterpart of 1.0257. The Loonie closed at $1.02790, appreciating a total of 0.127% from the day’s open.
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