Sterling pulled up from four-month lows against the dollar on Thursday after disappointing economic growth numbers from the United States threw the greenback off an upward path.
By late afternoon trade in Europe, sterling gained more than two cents from the four-month low of $1.7582 set in the European morning, following the dollar's sharp pullback.
Analysts said British domestic news had little to do with the pound's trading, although Nation-wide building society house price data showed continued fast growth and supported expectations of imminent hikes in UK interest rates.
"UK news is really absent. Nation-wide was not really a factor," said Tim Fox, market strategist at National Australia Bank in London. "UK rate hikes are now one of the clearer calls one can make. "The dollar is driving markets," he said.
At 1450 GMT sterling was up one third of a percent on the day versus the dollar at $1.7779, after the dollar's sudden fall pulled it up from the red earlier in the session.
The pound was also down 0.7 percent down versus the euro at 67.21 pence as the single currency jumped versus the dollar.
British house prices rose 2.1 percent on the month in April and 18.9 percent from a year ago - the fastest annual increase since June 2003, Nation-wide said.
Consumer confidence numbers from the UK were also unexpectedly strong on increased optimism about major purchases and the overall state of the world's fourth largest economy.
Research company Martin Hamblin GfK said its consumer confidence barometer rose to -2 this month from -3 in March, although sentiment remained below the index's long-term average of zero. Analysts had predicted a reading of -3.
Comments
Comments are closed.