U.K. Gilts Fall Before Debt Sales This Week; Pound Slides

The pound fell versus all 16 of its major peers as investors awaited publication this week of minutes of the Bank of England’s most recent policy meeting, at which officials held interest rates at a record low.

Sterling slipped from a three-week high versus the dollar after an industry report showed U.K. house prices declined this month. Details of the central bank’s November Monetary Policy Committee meeting are due on Nov. 20. Benchmark government bonds rose. The Debt Management Office will sell 3.75 billion pounds ($6 billion) of 10-year securities tomorrow and 4.75 billion pounds of a note due in 2019 on Thursday.

Sterling slid 0.2 percent to 83.92 pence per euro at 5:05 p.m. London time. The pound bought $1.6112 from $1.6118 on Nov. 15. It earlier climbed to $1.6149, the highest since Oct. 28. The U.K. currency gained 0.6 percent versus the dollar last week.

At the Bank of England’s Nov. 7 policy meeting, officials kept the key rate at 0.5 percent and maintained its asset-purchase stimulus target at 375 billion pounds.

(Source: Bloomberg)