GBPUSD Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, GBP rose 0.21% against the USD and closed at 1.5656.
However, gains were limited in the Pound as the UK GDP contracted a more-than-expected 0.2% sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2011, raising concern over the health of the economy.
In the other UK economic news, the Index of Services climbed 0.6% (MoM) in November. Moreover, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) reported that mortgage approvals for house purchase edged up to 36,171 in December, compared to total approvals of 34,809 recorded in November. Additionally, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in its latest industrial trends survey indicated that total order book balance advanced to -16.0 in January, from -23.0 in December.
Separately, minutes of the Bank of England’s latest monetary policy meeting revealed that the policymakers unanimously decided to leave the key interest rate unchanged at a record low 0.5% and decided to maintain its program of asset purchases at £275.0 billion.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 1.5657, with the GBP trading steady from yesterday’s close.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.5567, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.5477. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.5713, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.5769.
The currency pair is trading above its 20 Hr and its 50 Hr moving averages.
