GBPUSD Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, GBP fell 0.37% against the USD and closed at 1.5118, as the Bank of England refrained from making any adjustments to the asset purchase facility or interest rate level. Meanwhile, the greenback recorded gains yesterday, after data revealed that jobless claims in the US declined much lower than expected last week and factory activity marked an improvement in July. However, losses were limited as the UK manufacturing PMI registered its best figure in over two years in July.
Yesterday, the Bank of England (BoE)’s Monetary Policy Committee voted to retain its quantitative easing at £375 billion as expected and keep its key interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5%, in line with the market expectations. Separately, UK’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to a reading of 54.6 in July, from a revised reading of 52.9 recorded in June.
In the Asian session, at GMT0300, the pair is trading at 1.5129, with the GBP trading marginally higher from yesterday’s close, after the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) raised Britain’s growth forecasts for both 2013 and 2014 by 0.3 percentage points to 1.2% and 1.8%, respectively, citing rise in consumers spending.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.5073, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.5016. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.5215, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.5300.
Later today in UK, investor forecast a substantial improvement in the annual housing prices in July, while the construction PMI is expected to register a marginal gain in July.
The currency pair is trading below its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving average.
