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Sterling hit a 15-month high against the euro on Tuesday, as robust British October house price data firmed expectations of a rate hike next week, but pared most of its gains after a surprise fall in retail sales.
British house prices jumped another 0.7 percent in October, but the annual rate of increase eased slightly to 8.0 percent, the Nation-wide Building Society reported on Tuesday.
That was around half the monthly gain recorded in September when prices were 8.2 percent higher on the year, but still showed the housing market remains healthy even after the unexpected Bank of England summer interest rate hike.
But sterling's gains were later tempered by data from the Confederation of British Industry, showing that retail sales volumes had fallen this month at their fastest pace in seven months, compared with the market's expectations of an increase.
"With sterling having been bid up recently against the euro and the dollar, and already slipping a little bit, the release of the weak CBI data initiated even more weakness," said Steve Barrow, currency strategist at Bear Stearns. "But it's not going to last - I don't expect any significant downturn - and this would not change the idea that the BoE will raise rates again next week."
At 1513 GMT, the pound held steady against the euro at 66.91 pence, off an earlier 15-month peak of 66.70. Against the dollar, sterling hit a one-month high of $1.9064, with the greenback coming under broad selling pressure after a weaker than expected Chicago PMI reading for October.
The CBI's reported sales balance fell to -4 in October from +14 in September. Retailers had predicted a pick-up to +16 and the survey reading was also well below analysts' forecasts of a balance of +12. The market shrugged off earlier data from GfK which showed that British consumers' mood had fined in October, thanks to a buoyant stock market and rising house prices.

Copyright Reuters, 2006

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