Pound Euro exchange rate: Pound flat as UK housing market slows, Brexit in focus

One of the only data releases, the Rightmove House Price Index, showed that UK house prices rose at the slowest rate in a decade over the past year.

This signalled that the housing market is slowing down ahead of Brexit, as property prices had only increased by 0.2 percent in February year-on-year. 

However, the affordability of houses has improved at its fastest rate since 2011 following data that showed wages were increasing annually by more than 3 percent. 

Rightmove Director and Housing Market Analyst, Miles Shipside commented: “Longer daylight hours and green shoots appearing in gardens herald the start of the traditionally more buoyant spring market. […] In theory the scene would be set for an active spring if it were not for the uncertain political backdrop.”

Last week Sterling received a boost as January’s UK retail sales exceeded expectations, boasting the largest annual rise since December 2016. 

Commenting on the data, Samuel Tombs, Chief UK Economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics said: “January’s jump in retail sales shows that most households have maintained a happy-go-lucky mentality, despite the fraught political situation. While consumers’ confidence is down, this reflects rather fuzzy expectations that Brexit might be costly eventually.”

Looking ahead to Tuesday, the pairing will likely see greater fluctuations as there will be more UK and Eurozone economic data releases.

The pound could see an upswing of support early in the session tomorrow if the ILO unemployment rate drops to 3.9 percent in December as forecast. 

The UK average earnings figure could also buoy Sterling if this figure continues to show that earnings are increasing. 

The euro could slip tomorrow, meanwhile, as February’s ZEW economic sentiment survey is forecast to contract further to -18.4, showing investor sentiment in Germany continues to remain low. 

source: express.co.uk