GBPUSD Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, GBP rose 1.04% against the USD and closed at 1.6300, after a report showed service industries in the UK expanded at a faster pace in March.
The Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply reported that its purchasing managers’ index for service sector in the UK advanced to 57.1 in March, from 52.6 in February. Meanwhile, the UK government’s net reserves rose to $41.14 billion at the end of March, from $38.89 billion recorded at the end of February. Additionally, gross foreign currency reserves increased by $211.0 million to $85.5 billion at the end of March.
In the morning news, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported that the shop price inflation in the UK dropped to 2.4% (Y-o-Y) in March, compared to a 2.7% rate in the last month.
The pair opened the Asian session at 1.6300, and is trading at 1.6331 at 3.00GMT. The pair is trading 0.19% higher from the New York session close.
The pair has its first short term resistance at 1.6418, followed by the next resistance at 1.6505. The first support is at 1.6165, with the subsequent support at 1.5999.
Trading trends in the pair today are expected to be determined by NIESR GDP, manufacturing production and industrial production data due to be released in the UK, later today.
The currency pair is trading far above its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
