Sterling finishes down against the euro

The pound weakened by 1.02 cents (0.88%) against the euro yesterday, closing the day at 1.1435.

• In early trading yesterday sterling weakened against the euro, as traders booked profits following significant gains in recent days. Comments from outgoing Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member David Blanchflower also weighed on the pound early on, after he was quoted as saying the world should not assume the worst of the global economic crisis is over.
  
• Worse-than-expected CBI Realised Sales data out mid-morning also contributed to the downward pressure on sterling. May’s reading of -17 was much lower than the -10 analysts had been expecting, and a significant fall from the 3 registered last month.
  
• In trading so far today sterling has strengthened against the single currency, as investors start to look ahead to next week’s important interest rate decisions in the eurozone and UK. Some analysts now believe the European Central Bank to be behind-the-curve in terms of their monetary policy so, depending what they announce next week, the pound could gain ground against the euro over the next few weeks.
  
• There are no major announcements due in the eurozone or the UK today.