Pound weakens versus USD, euro

The pound lost ground to the greenback and the euro Tuesday after the Confederation of British Industry released new survey numbers which showed retail sales were at their lowest point in twenty-five years and on a report from the Bank of England that showed mortgage approvals down to just 36,000 in June.

In late morning trade in New York it took $1.9808 to buy a pound while the UK currency traded at 78.77p to the euro.

The US dollar also gained on the euro and was stronger versus the yen as US consumer confidence grew in July and crude oil prices resumed their recent declines while the yen was hurt by a higher unemployment rate in June and by declines in household spending and the euro was hurt by a decline in French consumer confidence to its lowest level in at least 21 years.

At around 11 a.m in New York, the dollar traded at $1.5602 to the euro while it took ¥108.2050 to buy a dollar.

The New Zealand dollar saw declines after approvals for home construction fell 20 percent in June to just 1,337, the fewest in 22 years, while the Australian dollar weakened on comments from the International Monetary Fund saying that banks will continue to suffer from the US mortgage mess.

The New Zealand dollar traded at 73.72 cents US while the Aussie was at 95.11 cents US.

The South African rand traded at R7.4025 to the dollar, gaining ground on the popularity of carry trades and on the chance that interest rates there will rise even further.

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