Pound stronger; USD weakens again

The pound strengthened Wednesday on gains in equities markets and on new data showing that factory production in the UK was up 0.2 percent in April over May’s numbers, news that came after recent numbers showing that house prices are up in the UK and that the services sector there is also up.

Additionally, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has apparently avoided resignation for the present, calming the political climate in the UK.

At shortly after 10:30 a.m. in New York, the pound traded at 85.6p to the euro while it took $1.6377 or ¥160.7108 to buy a pound.

The US dollar, on the other hand, was down against most major currencies as investors bet that the recession is getting better by looking for risky investments, while the greenback was also hurt by the possibility that the Russian central bank will probably replace some of the US Treasuries in its reserves by buying bonds issued by the International Monetary Fund.

This is the first time the IMF has issued bonds, doings so now to raise more cash to be able to make more loans to member nations during the current economic turndown.

At mid-morning in New York, the dollar traded at $1.4019 to the euro, at 63.01 cents US to the New Zealand dollar and at 80.55 cents US to the Australian dollar, but both the euro and the greenback were stronger in relation to the Japanese yen as that Asian currency traded at ¥137.5718 to the euro and at ¥98.13 to the US dollar.

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