House price data hurts pound

The pound declined this week versus the US dollar as UK house prices continued to fall and on new numbers showing a contraction of the service sector.

The new data made it more likely that the Bank of England will cut interest rates by as much as half a percentage point when it meets next week.

In late morning trade in New York, the pound traded at 77.77p to the euro while it took $1.7739 or ¥188.0741 to buy a pound.

Meanwhile, the US dollar gained on the euro Friday on more demand for the US currency.

The greenback traded at $1.3796 to the euro at around 11:30 a.m. in New York, while at the same time it took ¥106.02 to buy a dollar and ¥146.2652 to buy a euro.

The euro was hurt after the president of the European Central Bank said that the bank considered cutting interest rates before deciding yesterday to hold the rate at 4.25 percent for the time being, while it is considered likely that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates, perhaps by as much as three-quarters of a percentage point, when it meets on 29 October.

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