During early deals on Tuesday, the British pound showed weakness against its major counterparts on increased speculation that the Bank of England will cut interest rates this week.
The Bank of England is scheduled to announce its interest rate decision this Thursday. Analysts expect the central bank to cut interest rates by 50% to 1%.
U.K. stocks retreated for a fourth day today, led by oil companies after BP Plc reported its first- quarterly loss in seven years, countering a rally in Vodafone Group Plc.
BP declined 4.1 percent after Europe's second-largest oil company reported a loss of $3.3 billion as the global recession spurred a record plunge in crude prices. Vodafone rose more than 6 percent after the world's largest mobile-phone company posted third-quarter sales that topped analysts' estimates.
Against the US dollar, the British pound edged down during early deals on Tuesday. At 5:10 am ET, the pound-dollar pair declined to 1.4157, compared to 1.4267 hit late New York Monday. The pound-dollar pair is currently trading at 1.4182 with 1.403 seen as the next target level.
The British pound that closed Monday's North American session at 0.9006 against the European currency slipped to 0.9066 during Tuesday's early Asian deals. Thereafter, the pound reversed its direction but lost ground after hitting a high of 0.9007 at 3:05 am ET. The pair is now worth 0.9029.
German retail sales unexpectedly fell for the third straight month in December, as the continuous increase in unemployment reduced purchasing power. The Federal Statistical Office said today that turnover in retail trade in real terms fell 0.2% month-on-month in December after adjusting for calendar and seasonal swings. Retail sales fell for the third straight month, while economists had expected an increase of 0.5% in December. The decline follows a 0.1% fall in November, which was revised down from 0.7% increase initially reported.
Eurozone industrial producer price inflation eased significantly to 1.8% year-on-year in December from 3.3% in November, the Eurostat said today. Economists were expecting the producer price inflation rate to slow to 2.1%.
Against the Swiss currency, the British currency reached a high of 1.6595 at 3:05 am ET Tuesday. Thereafter, the pound-franc pair lost ground and is currently quoted at 1.6508, compared to Monday's closing value of 1.6571. On the downside, 1.616 is seen as the next target level for the pair.
The Swiss trade surplus increased to CHF 19.83 billion in 2008 from CHF 13.95 billion last year, the Federal Customs Administration reported today. Exports recorded an annual growth of 4.6% in nominal terms, while imports grew just 1.8%. In real terms, exports rose 1.3% and imports were up 1.6% in 2008.
Further, the Customs office said exports totaled CHF 13.87 billion and imports fell to CHF 13.66 billion, resulting in a surplus of CHF 217.3 million in December 2008. In real terms, exports dropped 13% in December from the previous year.
The British pound showed weakness against the Japanese yen during today's early deals. The pound-yen pair that closed Monday's New York deals at 127.63 touched a low of 126.75 at 5:10 am ET. If the pair falls further, 125 is seen as the next target level.
Japan's monetary base increased in January at a pace of 3.9 percent over its level of one year earlier, according to data made public by the Bank of Japan. The increase was the 5th straight month of increases for the monetary base. The average outstanding monetary base in January was 93.5049 trillion yen or US$1.046 trillion
The Japanese central bank said today it will resume buying shares worth up to 1 trillion yen, or about $11.14 billion, by April next year. The latest announcement comes at a time when Japanese financial institutions have reported huge losses, both realized and unrealized.
The BOJ scheme, last conducted from 2002 to 2004, is intended to support financial institutions to reduce risk associated with their stockholdings and to ensure the stability of the financial system ahead of the nearing end of the current business year, the bank said.
In the New York session, data on Pending Home Sales, which is a leading indicator of housing market activity released by the National Association of Realtors, is due out at 10 AM ET. A pending sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.
The pending home sales index showed a 4% monthly drop for November, while it was down 5.6% year-over-over. The pending home sales indexes for the Northeast declined 7.2%, while the index for the Midwest, the South and the West fell 6.7%, 2.2% and 2.4%, respectively.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.