Sterling slides

05 Jul, 2005

Sterling slid to near 14-month lows against the dollar on Monday and held near one-month lows versus the euro as expectations grew that the Bank of England may soon cut interest rates. The pound came under renewed selling pressure as the greenback extended its rally on the back of stronger US manufacturing data and as comments from a European Central Bank official reignited concerns about the future stability of the eurozone.
The pound lost 5 US cents last week after the United States raised interest rates to 3.25 percent and weak data fuelled talk of a British rate cut this summer.
By 1415 GMT, sterling stood at $1.7602 against the dollar, down around half a percent on the day and above its lowest level since mid-May 2004 at around $1.7571 hit earlier in the session.
Against the euro, sterling was little changed at 67.61 pence, holding near Friday's one-month low of 67.98 pence.
The euro fell to near 14-month lows below $1.19 on Monday after ECB Governing Council member Christian Noyer said it was possible for a country to leave the single currency bloc although such a move was risky.

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