Pound declines versus euro on drop in mortgage approvals

The pound weakened versus the euro on Tuesday after a report from the British Bankers Association showing that loan approvals for house purchases were down 20 percent in May from the previous month and down 56 percent from the number granted in May last year, to just 27,968 approvals.

At just past noon in New York, the pound traded at 79.12p to the euro but it was up in relation to the US dollar, which traded at $1.9694 to the pound.

The US dollar was also weaker in relation to the euro and the yen after the Conference Board issued new data showing its confidence index at 50.4 in June, down from 58.1 in May and after the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index dropped 15.3 percent in April from the same month in 2007, making any interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve this year less likely.

In early afternoon trade in New York, the dollar was trading at $1.5581 to the euro while it took ¥107.9800 to buy a dollar.

The Australian dollar was stronger versus both the US dollar and the yen after China agreed to pay higher prices for iron ore, according to a report from mining group Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO; LSE: RIO; NYSE: RTP).

The Aussie traded at 95.61cents US in early afternoon trade in New York, while it took ¥103.2995 to buy one Australian dollar.

The New Zealand dollar, however, was weaker against the greenback and the yen in anticipation of a report due Friday which is expected to show that the nation’s economy contracted by 0.3 percent in the first quarter of the year.

By early afternoon in New York it took 75.85 US cents to buy a New Zealand dollar while the kiwi was worth ¥81.933.

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