British pound falls against majors;
hits new multi-week low versus yen

The British pound showed weakness against its major counterparts on disappointing economic reports released from UK. The pound declined to a new multi-week low against the Japanese yen and a 4-day low versus the US dollar. House prices in the UK fell 0.3% month-on-month in April, by the slowest pace in a year, a report by property consultants Hometrack said today. The report said the slower pace of decline in prices reflected a rise in optimism from estate agents due to increased levels of market activity. Year-on-year, house prices were down 10.1% in April.The British economy is likely to contract 4% this year and will shrink another 1% in the next year, reports said today citing Roger Bootle, an economic adviser at Deloitte & Touche LLP and managing director of Capital Economics.