Pound hits record low versus euro

The pound was weaker on Friday as investors worried that lower house prices spurred by tighter lending and inflation that has been slowing could cause the Bank of England to cut interest rates again soon.

The UK currency fell to an all-time low versus the euro at 72.56p to the euro and traded at 72.41p to the euro at early afternoon in New York.

The pound’s biggest loos this year has been versus the Brazilian real losing 15 percent to trade at 28.14p to the real today.

Meanwhile, the yen weakened against all sixteen major currencies on Friday on new personal spending figures from the United States, where spending was up by 1.1 percent in November.

The new data, along with an equities rally, made investors more confident about entering risky carry trades at the expense of the Japanese currency.

In early afternoon trade in New York, the yen traded at ¥114.1050 to the US dollar, at ¥163.7804 to the euro, and at ¥226.1731 to the pound.

The yen was down at least 1 percent against the Australian dollar to trade at ¥98.7122, against the Canadian dollar at ¥115.0310, against the New Zealand dollar at ¥87.087, against the Brazilian real at ¥63.762, and against the South African rand at ¥16.280.

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