The British pound gained against the dollar in London as speculators pushed the pair up on a positive UK housing data.
Cable retested a psychologically important 1.9000 level as traders bid the pound after the industry report showed that the UK housing market stabilized and continues to grow despite high interest rate.
Sterling was quoted at 1.8947-52 against the dollar, .6887-6890 versus the euro and 199.92-200.01 against the Japanese yen at 13:30 GMT.
The London equities were mixed as the positive announcements in the pharmaceutical sector were outweighed by the losses in the utilities.
The FTSE 100 lost 0.1 percent to 5,051.9 while the FTSE 250 shed 0.4 percent at 7,263.6.
Pharmaceutical sector was active on the merger and acquisition news from Novartis. The company announced it would acquire Hexal and its strategic ally Eon Labs for EUR5.65bn.
AstraZeneca rallied 2.8 percent to GBP21.34 on speculation of further consolidation in the pharmaceutical sector. The rest of the sector also was strong on the news with GlaxoSmithKline up 3.4 percent to GBP12.34 while Shire Pharmaceuticals gained 2.2 percent at 574.5p and Acambis shares added1.5 percent to 275p.
Utilities sector came under pressure as rising interest rates made high yielding stocks less attractive to the global investors.
Scottish Power fell 3.3 percent to 416p, United Utilities dropped 3.2 percent to 629.5p, Centrica shed 3 percent to 242.5p, Scottish and Southern Energy lost 3.4 percent at 898.5p and Severn Trent traded 3.4 percent lower to 919.5p.
National Grid Transco fell 3.8 percent to 517p on a broker downgrade.
Millennium and Copthorne rallied 3.8 percent to 403p as the hotel operator announced record quarterly earnings.
The UK Gilts fell after an industry report revealed that the UK housing market continues to gather pace. The 10 Year UK Gilt fell 0.14 to 100.40 with yields higher by 2 basis points to 4.69 percent. The Long Gilt futures contract for March delivery fell.19 to 110.12.