Pound weakens on rate decision, house prices

The pound was weaker versus the euro Thursday after the Bank of England held UK interest rates steady at 5 percent, as expected.

The UK currency was already falling before the rate decisions was issued as mortgage lender HBOS (LSE: HBOS) reported UK house prices were lower again in July.

At just past 11 a.m. in New York, the pound traded at 79.06p to the euro while it took $1.9451 to buy a pound.

The euro, meanwhile, weakened in relation several currencies as the European Central Bank left Eurozone interest rates steady at 4.25 percent for the time being.

With the rate decision announcement, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet also said that economic growth in the region could slow in the second half of the year, which cut expectations that the Bank will issue a rate hike anytime soon.

In late morning trade in New York, the euro traded at $1.5377, while it took ¥168.4242 to buy a euro and the Canadian dollar strengthened to C$1.6157 versus the shared currency.

The Canadian dollar also strengthened in relation to its US counterpart as oil prices climbed and the greenback weakened in relation to other currencies, with the loonie trading at C$1.0507 to the dollar.

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