Forex Pros – Sterling pared losses against the dollar on Monday, retreating from the daily low hit following a report by U.K. mortgage lender Halifax, showing that British house prices fell for a second consecutive month in December.
GBP/USD retreated from 1.5473, the daily low to hit 1.5528 during European late afternoon trade, sliding 0.12%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5404, last Friday’s low and resistance at 1.5578, the high of the same day.
Earlier in the day, Halifax said its house price index fell 1.3% in December from the previous month to an average price of GBP163,435, after a 0.2% drop in November. The drop was larger than the market consensus estimate of a 0.5% decline.
In the three months to December, house prices fell 1.6% compared with a year earlier, the biggest fall since November 2009.
Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, predicted little change in UK house prices in 2011.
"Interest rates are likely to remain very low for some time. This will continue to support a favorable affordability position for those entering the market and limit financial pressure on existing homeowners to sell," Ellis said.
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