Sterling hit a 1-1/2 week high against the dollar after a strong British house prices survey on Monday, but fell sharply against the yen as the Japanese currency rose across the board. Property consultant Hometrack said house prices in Britain climbed in February at their fastest annual rate since June 2003, despite three BoE rate hikes since August to 5.25 percent.
Investors will look to a succession of British data this week, including mortgage approvals, the Nationwide housing survey and the Land Registry house price index, to gauge whether the Bank of England will raise interest rates again this year.
The Japanese unit rose sharply against major currencies as investors unwound yen-financed investment into higher-yielding currencies, including the pound. "Large part of it is unwinding of the move we saw on Friday. That's why (sterling/dollar) came off. The yen is a little bit stronger, which reflects excessive positioning in the yen," said Paul Robson, currency strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland.
"The general take on the housing market is that it remains in a relatively good shape. The housing market isn't slowing sharply in response to rate hikes nor accelerating rapidly." Sterling had risen to the 1-1/2 week high of $1.9661 before erasing gains to $1.9622 to trade flat on the day by 1515 GMT. It was also holding steady at 67.08 pence per euro.
Sterling fell more than one yen to 236.32 yen, after hitting 241.49, its highest level since late 1992, in January. BoE Monetary Policy Committee member David Blanchflower, is speaking in Stirling, Scotland, later on Monday. The market is pricing in the BoE to raise rates again this year from the current 5.25 percent.
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