Pound loses ground against the euro yesterday

The pound weakened by 0.22 cents (0.19%) against the euro yesterday to close the day at 1.1590.

• Sterling weakened against the euro in early trading yesterday, after it was announced an Abu Dhabi government-owned firm had sold roughly £3.5 billion of Barclays shares. The bank’s shares fell about 13% in early London trade as a result, as confidence in the UK banking sector diminished. The FTSE 100 as a whole was down 1% mid-morning.
  
• However, poor eurozone unemployment figures, which showed a rise to 9.2% in April, did cap the euro’s gains to some extent. This was its highest level since September 1999.
  
• Nevertheless, the euro ended the day in positive territory against sterling yesterday as falls in London equities dragged the pound down. The FTSE 100 lost 29.17 points in the day.
  
• In trading so far today sterling has strengthened against the euro, as investors turn their attention to tomorrow’s interest rate decisions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
  
• There are no major announcements due in the eurozone today, whilst in the UK Services PMI figures are out at 09.30 BST.