UK house prices continued to decline in February, according to a report from the Department for Communities and Local Government on Wednesday, which reported an annual 12.3% decline in February, a sharper decline than January's 11.5% contraction.

Earlier on Wednesday, the UK's Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors house price survey showed 73.0% of surveyors reported a fall rather than rise in house prices in March. This figure is a slightly better result than the 78% recorded in February. The house price balance was expected at -77.0%.

Meanwhile equity markets followed a decline in U.S. markets on Tuesday following a weaker than expected retail sales report. The UK FTSE 100 was flat at 3,989.

All data at 6:34 a.m. EDT

GBP/USD up 0.64 cents to 1.4959

Euro/GBP down 0.39 pence to 0.8863

GBP/CAD up 0.75 cents to 1.8177

By Erik Kevin Franco, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ; edited by Nick Say, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

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