Pound Tumbles ahead of Carney’s Speech

European stocks extended losses during the afternoon on Tuesday as the British Pound slipped ahead of Bank of England’s (BoE) Governor Mark Carney’s appearance in front of the House of Lords economics committee.

The pan-European STOXX 50 was down over 0.3 percent. The United Kingdom’s FTSE 100, thanks to a weaker Pound, rose 0.4 percent. The French CAC 40 was lower as were shares in Germany.

The Pound fell sharply lower as Carney is getting ready to speak and face questions why another rate cut will not be necessary. The US Dollar rose as it was supported by an increase in US August home prices. The GBP/USD closed down 0.57 percent on the day.

Basic resource stocks outperformed other sectors as they were up 3.22 percent in the afternoon. Insurance, chemicals and telecoms were also higher on the day. Oil stocks moved lower as the price of oil moved lower.

Telecom stocks were up 1.5 percent as the French telecom company Orange reported an increase of earnings in the third quarter. Earnings were up 1.6 percent to $3.91 billion. The company also saw an increase in new mobile contracts by 845,000.

In other corporate news, Norwegian aluminum company Norsk Hydro beat expectations for the third quarter. Profits came in slightly lower at $179 million but higher aluminum prices offset bigger losses. There were also effects of a negative local currency in play.