GBPUSD Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, GBP rose marginally against the USD and closed at 1.6174, amid market speculation of an additional round of easing for the US economy. Meanwhile, the Bank of England (BoE) monetary policy committee member, Martin Weale stated that the case for more quantitative easing has strengthened after first quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers indicated that the UK economy is slipping back into recession.
In economic news, mortgage approvals for house purchase in the UK fell unexpectedly to 31,888 in March, compared to approvals of 32,840 recorded in February. Market had expected mortgage approvals to rise to 34,000 in March. Additionally, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in its Distributive Trades Survey indicated that the retail sales balance in the UK dropped to -6.0 in April, compared to a balance of 0.0 recorded in March. Market had expected a retail sales balance to fall to -4.0 in April.
In the Asian session, at GMT0300, the pair is trading at 1.6181, with the GBP trading 0.04% higher from yesterday’s close.
This morning, the Gfk consumer confidence index in the UK, remained steady at -31.0 in April, in line with market expectations.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.6158, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.6136. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.6205, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.6230.
The pair is expected to trade on the cues from the release of nationwide housing prices data in the UK.
The currency pair is trading between its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
