Housing data hurts pound

The pound weakened Tuesday on bad news, mostly from the housing sector.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported that the average number of homes sold per surveyor fell to 10.1 in the fourth quarter of 2008, the lowest in thirty years

Meanwhile, the Department for Communities and Local Government reported that house prices were down at an annualized rate of 8.6 percent in November.

The pound traded at 90.6p to the euro by late morning in New York, while it took $1.455 to buy a pound, the yen was at ¥130.4452 to the pound and the Swiss franc had gained to SFr1.6355 to the UK currency.

Elsewhere, the US dollar strengthened versus the euro Tuesday on a US Commerce Department report that the US trade deficit dropped to $40.4 billion in November, a five-year low.

The dollar was also helped speculation that as the first economy hurt by the recession, the US economy could be the first to recover.

The euro, on the other hand, was hurt by rising sentiment that the European Central Bank will cut interest rates again this week, this time possibly by as much as half a percentage point.

In late morning trade in New York the dollar traded at $1.3182 to the euro while it took ¥89.655 to buy a dollar and ¥118.1848 to buy a euro.

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