The pound rose, surpassing $1.64 for the first time in seven months, and gilts declined as reports on manufacturing and house prices added to evidence Europe’s second-biggest economy is recovering from a recession.
The British currency also advanced versus the euro and the yen as the FTSE 100 Index surged to a five-month high. An index of U.K. manufacturing climbed to its strongest level in a year last month and house prices snapped 20 months of declines, data showed today. The pound will reach $1.72 in the next three months, Calyon said, following its biggest monthly gain in almost a quarter of a century.
“The pound advanced on further risk appetite and improvement in the conditions of the manufacturing sector,” Sagiv Perez, chief analyst at Finotec Trading U.K. Ltd., a London-based derivatives and foreign-exchange broker, wrote in a note to clients today.
The pound climbed as high as $1.6431, the strongest level since Oct. 31, and was at $1.6375 as of 1:11 p.m. in London, from $1.6189 at the end of last week. The British currency strengthened to 86.80 pence per euro, from 87.47 pence.
A gauge based on a survey of U.K. factories rose to 45.4 in May from 43.1, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply and Markit Economics said today. The median of 25 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey was for a reading of 44. Average house prices in England and Wales were little changed after falling 0.3 percent in April, property researcher Hometrack Ltd. said.
From Bloomberg News.
The British currency also advanced versus the euro and the yen as the FTSE 100 Index surged to a five-month high. An index of U.K. manufacturing climbed to its strongest level in a year last month and house prices snapped 20 months of declines, data showed today. The pound will reach $1.72 in the next three months, Calyon said, following its biggest monthly gain in almost a quarter of a century.
“The pound advanced on further risk appetite and improvement in the conditions of the manufacturing sector,” Sagiv Perez, chief analyst at Finotec Trading U.K. Ltd., a London-based derivatives and foreign-exchange broker, wrote in a note to clients today.
The pound climbed as high as $1.6431, the strongest level since Oct. 31, and was at $1.6375 as of 1:11 p.m. in London, from $1.6189 at the end of last week. The British currency strengthened to 86.80 pence per euro, from 87.47 pence.
A gauge based on a survey of U.K. factories rose to 45.4 in May from 43.1, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply and Markit Economics said today. The median of 25 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey was for a reading of 44. Average house prices in England and Wales were little changed after falling 0.3 percent in April, property researcher Hometrack Ltd. said.
From Bloomberg News.