GBPUSD Movement
On Friday, GBP rose 0.13% against the USD and closed at 1.6361, as investors continued to cheer the Bank of England’s (BoE) decision to head off the risk of a housing bubble in Britain, on Thursday.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the BoE Governor, Mark Carney, stated that he would “welcome” talks with Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, to look at the future of the pound and discuss his plan to share Sterling as currency after independence.
In economic news, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the nationwide housing prices in the UK rose 0.6% (MoM) in November, in-line with market expectations and compared to a 1.0% rise witnessed in the preceding month. Separately, the BoE reported that consumer credit in nation rose by £0.457 billion in October, lesser than analysts’ estimate for a rise of £0.650 billion and compared to previous month’s revised reading of £1.073 billion. The central bank also reported that mortgage approval in the UK stood at 67,701 in October, lesser than market consensus for a rise of 68,500 and compared to a level of 66,891 recorded in September.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 1.6420, with the GBP trading 0.36% higher from Friday’s close. Earlier today, Hometrack reported that, on a seasonally adjusted basis, housing prices in the UK rose 0.5% (MoM) in November, compared to a similar rate of rise registered in the previous month.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.6341, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.6262. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.6472, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.6524.
Traders await Markit Economics’ PMI report for UK’s manufacturing sector, slated for release later today.
The currency pair is trading above its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
