London, March 21 (Bloomberg) -- The British pound declined for a sixth day in seven against the dollar as speculation builds the war in Iraq will be over quickly. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he had ``broad evidence'' many Iraqi soldiers are ready to surrender. The British Broadcasting Corp. said scores of Iraqi soldiers are surrendering to U.K. forces in southern Iraq. ``It's a spurt of confidence for the dollar,'' said Neil Jones, director of foreign exchange at Nomura International. ``There's a belief the war might be resolved in the near future.'' The pound fell to $1.5620 at 8:31 a.m. in London, from $1.5664 late yesterday. It's fallen 2.3 percent against the dollar in the past five days as it headed for its second weekly decline. It was at 67.88 pence per euro, from 67.80 late yesterday. U.S. and U.K. troops entered southern Iraq after Baghdad was hit by a second wave of attacks at the start of an offensive to disarm Saddam Hussein's regime. Baghdad was struck by as many as 25 Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Evidence the U.K. economy is weakening may also curb the appeal of the pound, Jones said. U.K. retail sales unexpectedly fell for a second month in February, while consumer confidence plunged to the lowest in more than four years last month. The U.K. economy last year expanded at its slowest pace since 1992 as growth in service industries slowed and manufacturing contracted. Policy makers last month lowered their growth forecast for 2003 to 2.5 percent. //www.quote.bloomberg.com