London, Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The British pound fell for the second day in six against the dollar as U.S. stocks rose, boosting demand for the currency to buy them. The pound fell to $1.5321 at 2:54 p.m. in London, from $1.5382 late Friday. It was at 63.85 pence per euro, from 64. The U.K. currency has gained 5.4 percent against the dollar and dropped 4.2 percent against the euro this year. The major U.S. stock indexes all rose, led by the Standard & Poor's 500, which gained 0.2 percent. The S&P 500 last week advanced 2.2 percent, its fourth straight week of gains.
``At the moment the equity markets are providing some support to the dollar,'' said Ian Stannard, a currency strategist at BNP Paribas SA. Investors will look to reports later this week on economic growth and retail sales for further clues as to the strength of Europe's second-largest economy.
U.K. retail sales probably rose 0.5 percent in July, after falling 0.7 percent the previous month, economists surveyed by Bloomberg News said. The report is due Thursday. A second estimate of gross domestic product is due on Friday. ``Any sign of weakness there will put the pound under pressure,'' said Stannard. ``We have had some bad numbers out of the U.K. recently.'' Manufacturing had its worst slump since 1979 in July, the government said last week. The British Retail Consortium, a lobby group, said retail-sales growth eased for the first time in three months in July. /quote.bloomberg.com