Equities slide hurts pound, advances Swiss franc

The pound fell in relation to the euro and the US dollar Tuesday on decline in equities markets were lower and on another drop in UK home prices.

The Department for Communities and Local Government reported that house prices in the UK were down 11.5 percent in January from the same month last year.

Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics is expected to say tomorrow that 84,800 more people received jobless benefits in February than got the benefits in January.

By just before noon in New York, the pound had taken back some of its losses and traded at 92.54 to the euro while it took $1.4002 to buy a pound.

The Swiss franc advanced in relation to the euro for the first session since the Swiss National Bank intervened to weaken the currency there as the slide in equities markets sent investors looking for safe places to put their cash.

In late morning trade in New York, the Swiss franc traded at SFr1.5338 to the euro while it was at SFr1.6575 to the pound and at SFr 1.1838 to the greenback.

The Japanese yen was weaker after the Bank of Japan said it could spend up to ¥1 trillion buying subordinated loans from banks

In the meantime, the euro saw gains after the ZEW survey showed that investor and analyst confidence stood at minus 3.5 in March, it’s best since July 2007, after being at minus 5.8 in February.

The yen traded at ¥98.9 to the US dollar and at ¥128.142 to the euro while the greenback traded at $1.2957 to the shared currency.

Story link: Equities slide hurts pound, advances Swiss franc