London, April 12 (Bloomberg) -- The British pound, which has risen 0.8 percentagainst the dollar in the past week, was little changed amid expectations U.K.economic growth will outpace the U.S.'s this year. The U.K. currency was trading at $1.4372, compared with $1.4365 lateyesterday, when it weakened to as low as $1.4271. Against the euro, it waslittle changed at 61.81 pence, compared with 61.79. Growth forecasts for the U.K. this year range from the government's 2.75percent prediction to the Confederation of British Industry's 2 percent estimate,which takes into the account the effects of the foot-and-mouth epidemic. Bycontrast the U.S. will probably expand 1.8 percent this year, a BloombergNews survey of economists showed last month. ``U.K. growth is clearly holding up,'' said Tony Spence, who helps overseeabout $19 billion at First Quadrant Ltd.. ``Expectations are that it will bestronger than the European economy and the U.S.,'' he said. ``We've increasedour sterling holding a little bit recently.'' Better growth in the U.K. may bolster the pound by attracting investors tofinancial assets and the currency needed to buy them. The performance of the U.S. economy will be the most important influence oncurrency markets this year, Spence said. ``We've see a range of forecastsbetween minus figures to big plus figures'' for growth this year, and optimismthe U.S. will rebound later this year is buoying the dollar, he said.
U.S. Reports
Traders will be focusing on U.S. economic reports later today to gauge thestate of the world's biggest economy. Retail sales probably showed no change in March after falling 0.2 percent inFebruary, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Producer prices likely rosein March at the same pace as a month earlier, while the University ofMichigan's consumer confidence study is expected to show a fall in April. Retail sales and producer prices are due at 1:30 p.m. London time, while theconsumer sentiment report is slated for 3 p.m. In the U.K., the British Chamber of Commerce will release its economic surveyfor the 1st quarter at 11:00 a.m. The pound may be dragged down today if the euro extends declines against theU.S. currency. Sterling has dropped 3.7 percent against the U.S. dollar thisyear, compared with the euro's 5.7 percent decline. Traders increasingly buy and sell together the currencies of the euro region theU.K., which sells almost 60 percent of its exports to euro-zone countries. Theeuro was little changed at 88.84 U.S. cents, compared with 88.77 yesterday.