Forexpros – The euro tumbled to a four-day low against the pound on Monday, as renewed concerns over the handling of the debt crisis and downbeat retail sales data in the euro zone weighed on the single currency.
EUR/GBP hit 0.8562 during European morning trade, the pair’s lowest since November 1; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8561, shedding 0.47%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8527, the low of October 3 and resistance at 0.8642, the high of November 3.
Official data showed that retail sales in the euro zone declined more-than-expected in September, falling 0.7% after a 0.3% decline the previous month.
Analysts had expected retails sales to fall 0.1% in September.
Meanwhile, the yield on Italian 10-year government bonds soared to a euro-lifetime high, amid open dissent within Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government ahead of a parliamentary vote on public finances on Tuesday.
Italy’s turmoil overshadowed an announcement by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Sunday, saying that he would step down to allow the creation of a national unity government intended to secure international financing and avert a potential default.
In the U.K., industry data showed that house prices rose more-than-expected last month, but fell slightly over the three months to October.
The Halifax house price index rose 1.2% in October compared with a month earlier and was 1.8% lower from a year earlier. Analysts had forecast prices would rise 0.1% on the month and decline 2.3% year-on-year.
Home prices fell 0.3% from the previous three months, the report said.
Elsewhere, the pound was sharply lower against the U.S. dollar with GBP/USD declining 0.24%, to trade at 1.5995.
Also Monday, a report showed that the euro zone Sentix investor confidence index dropped more-than-expected for November, declining to minus 21.2 after a reading of minus 18.5 the previous month.
Analysts had expected the index to fall to minus 19.7.
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