For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT on Friday, GBP fell marginally against the USD and closed at 1.5251, after Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) downgraded its sovereign credit rating on the UK by one notch to “Aa1” and changed the outlook on the nation’s debt to “Stable” from “Negative”.
However over the weekend, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, indicated that he would not abandon his austerity measures despite increasing pressure from the opposition to change economic policy, after Moody’s downgraded the nation’s “Aaa” credit rating.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 1.5125, with the GBP trading 0.83% lower from Friday’s close.
With a light economic calendar ahead in the day, investors would focus on the release of mortgage approvals data for January published by the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), a leading indicator of the UK housing market. Investors speculate the number of home loans to rise in January.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.5023, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.4922. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.5274, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.5424.
The currency pair is trading way below its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.