Pound weaker versus USD

The pound weakened versus the greenback on Wednesday after the minutes of the most recent meeting of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, just released, showed that the vote to hold UK interest rates at their current level was not even close at 8 to 1 as well as on anticipated that a new report will show that retail sales in the UK were down 0.5 percent last month.

The pound was worth $1.9633 in late morning trade in New York.

The euro gained on the US dollar after the Ifo business confidence index in Germany climbed from 102.4 in April to 103.5 in May although it had been expected to decline while the greenback was hurt by expectations that a new report due later this week will show that existing home sales were down in the US again in April.

At just past 11 a.m. in New York, a euro cost $1.5767, while it took ¥162.7915 or 80.31p to buy a euro.

The Swiss franc also strengthened versus the greenback as investor confidence strengthened in Switzerland in May.

The Swiss currency traded at SFr1.0288 to the dollar and at SFr1.6222 to the euro at late morning in New York.

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