Pound lower versus euro, gains on USD

The pound was weaker versus the euro Friday after comments on house prices from a deputy governor of the Bank of England made it seem less likely that the Bank will raise interest rates anytime soon.

In late morning trade in New York, the pound traded at 79.19p to the euro, but the UK currency strengthened to $1.9751 to the US dollar as the greenback weakened generally.

The dollar declined after an analyst note raised the possibility that mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE), are likely to see more losses as the housing market continues to slump.

At late morning in New York, the dollar was trading at $1.5639 to the euro while it was also lower in relation to the yen, which traded at ¥107.3200.

The euro gained on the yen, to ¥167.8430 to the shared currency.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars strengthened in relation to the US dollar and the yen as interest rates in both nations are expected to remain higher than those in the US after reduced expectations of rate hikes in the United States.

The US dollar traded at 95.51 cents US to the Australian dollar while it took ¥102.5013 to buy an Aussie, while the greenback traded at 76.26 cents US to the New Zealand dollar and the kiwi was worth ¥81.909.

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