Pound Drops as U.K. Manufacturing Output, House Prices Fall

The pound declined, halting a five-day advance, as reports showed declines in U.K. house prices and manufacturing output in the aftermath of the nation’s vote to leave the European Union.

Sterling also weakened against the euro after separate reports showed home prices slipped 0.2 percent in August and manufacturing fell a bigger-than forecast 0.9 percent the previous month. Currency traders also will focus on Bank of England Governor Mark Carney’s comments on Wednesday as he testifies before lawmakers following the BOE decision’s to boost monetary stimulus in August.

The data may temper optimism about the resilience of the economy following a recent set of positive surveys which showed that the U.K. was weathering the fallout from Brexit better than many analysts had predicted. While the currency has gained about 2 percent against the dollar in September, it’s still down 10 percent against the greenback since Britain voted in June to leave the European Union.

“Data this morning are a tad disappointing and that is weighing on the pound,” said Neil Jones, head of hedge fund sales at Mizuho Bank Ltd in London.

The pound fell 0.4 percent to $1.3387 as of 9:49 a.m. in London, after climbing Tuesday to $1.3445, its highest level since mid-July. It weakened 0.3 percent to 83.98 pence per euro.