The pound was hurt by a report from Hometrack Ltd which showed that home prices in England and Wales were down 0.2 percent in March, to an average of £174,100, for a sixth consecutive month of declines. The pound dropped by 8.2 percent versus the euro in the first quarter, its largest-ever quarterly decline versus the shared currency, while the dollar fell 8.4 percent versus the euro in the quarter. At just past 11 a.m. in New York, the dollar traded at $1.5842 to the euro and the pound was at 79.69p to the euro after touching a low of 79.73p earlier.
Despite the decline, the rand was up on the greenback after it was reported that South Africa’s trade deficit was down to R5.8 billion in February from R10.2 billion in January and after gold and platinum prices gained on the session.
The rand traded at R8.1265 to the dollar in late morning trade in New York.
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