left alt + num key 163 on my machine is 'ú'
left alt + num key 156 on my machine is '£'

above shows in any program( notepad, wordpad, pure console command line, with every font.

char c = 163;
cout << c;

renders 'ú', so it is consistent.

all settings in system are set to english(uk).
this problem shows only in a console app, any other application ( for example mfc with GUI ) works fine.