Pound slips on mortgage woes, credit crisis
U.K. mortgage approvals slipped to a fresh record low of 32K from 33K in July, signaling that the downturn in the housing market may get worse as U.K’s biggest mortgage lenders find themselves in troubled waters.
The dollar received a boost from relief that U.S. lawmakers were set to vote on a $700 billion bailout fund to alleviate the credit woes.
The euro fell against the dollar as Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis was rescued in a state buyout after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet held emergency talks with Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg officials.
Sterling was hit as authorities prepared to nationalise troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley and were discussing the sale of its savings deposits and branches, people familiar with the matter said.
At 11am BST the pound was $1.8030, more than four cents lower than Friday's close. The euro was $1.4355 around 2 1/2 cents down from Friday's close of $1.4610.
The dollar received a boost from relief that U.S. lawmakers were set to vote on a $700 billion bailout fund to alleviate the credit woes.
The euro fell against the dollar as Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis was rescued in a state buyout after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet held emergency talks with Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg officials.
Sterling was hit as authorities prepared to nationalise troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley and were discussing the sale of its savings deposits and branches, people familiar with the matter said.
At 11am BST the pound was $1.8030, more than four cents lower than Friday's close. The euro was $1.4355 around 2 1/2 cents down from Friday's close of $1.4610.