Sterling slips in wake of Manchester explosion

Suspected suicide attack fails to rattle currency markets

The pound slipped Tuesday after a suspected suicide attack took place in the English city of Manchester, while the euro held gains made after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was “too weak.”

Sterling eased almost 0.2 percent to $ 1.298. It fell 0.3 percent Monday.

On Tuesday, the pound dropped 0.4 percent to 144.06 yen, after losing 0.2 percent on Monday.

“We could see a bout of nervousness regarding the terror threat, but it’s likely to be minor,” said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital in Sydney.

“Ever since 9/ 11, the impact on markets from terrorist events has been declining,” said Oliver.

The euro hit a six- month high overnight after Merkel said the currency, made “too weak” by the European Central Bank’s monetary policy, helped explain Germany’s relatively high trade surplus.

The common currency was little changed at $ 1.1231 after jumping as much as 0.5 percent and closing 0.3 percent higher on Monday.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia- Pacific shares outside Japan gave up gains after hitting its highest level since June 2015 to trade 0.2 percent lower.

Japan’s Nikkei closed down 0.3 percent.

Korean shares, which hit an all- time high on Tuesday, were last up 0.3 percent.

Overnight, Wall Street closed as much as 0.8 percent higher, driven by defense and technology stocks, after US President Donald Trump announced arms deals and other investments with Saudi Arabia over the weekend that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said could add up to $ 350 billion.

An uncertain political climate in the US continued to weigh on the dollar, but a slowdown in Japanese manufacturing activity limited losses versus the yen.

The dollar was 0.3 percent lower at 110.945 yen.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of trade- weighted peers, was flat at 96.97.