After last week’s stellar performance, the British pound lost ground against the US dollar today, partially due to weak housing data, as the monthly Right move house prices ended in the red.
Tighter lending conditions resulted in excess supply of homes in the UK, driving down prices. In addition, new research released by Centre for Economic and Business Research indicated that slowdown in the economy could result in an excess of 300,000 employees being laid off in the near future. Upcoming Nationwide House Price and GDP figures should provide more insight on the health of the economy. Any deviations from expectations should see the GBP sink further against the USD. As more bad news comes rolling in, investors are becoming uncertain about a rate hike to fight inflation. BoE member Sentence said this morning that the central bank is in no rush to raise interest rates.