Pound gains on USD amid general decline

The pound saw declines Tuesday on more bad economic news for the UK, but it still managed to gain on the US dollar.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported that the average number of transactions per estate agent fell to 9.5 in the three months ending in February, the worst in the thirty years since records have been kept, while another report said that manufacturing in the UK was down by 2.9 percent in January from the previous month and dropped 6.4 percent in the three months through January.

The UK currency traded at 92.04p to the euro in late morning trade in New York, where it was also down versus the Australian dollar which traded at A$2.1426 to the pound.

The pound gained on the US dollar, however, which traded at $1.3858 to the pound at nearly noon in New York.

The dollar saw declines on gain in equities markets advanced after a reports that a memo from the CEO of Citigroup (NYSE: C) said the bank is in its best quarter since 2007.

Meanwhile, he euro gained on the yen after an official of the European Central Bank said that interest rates in the Eurozone should not fall below 1 percent.

The dollar traded at $1.2755 to the euro while the yen dropped to ¥125.4911 to the euro and traded at ¥98.385 to the greenback.

The South African rand gained to $10.2975 to the US dollar as copper prices were up.

Story link: Pound gains on USD amid general decline