For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, GBP rose 0.14% against the USD and closed at 1.5677, as the greenback weakened after the G7 industrial nations stated that countries should not use monetary policy to actively weaken their currencies. However, UK growth concerns continued to weigh over the Pound.
On the economic front, UK’s consumer price index remained stable at 2.7% annually in January, in line with market expectations. Meanwhile, annual retail price inflation increased to 3.3% in January, from 3.1% in December. Also, the house price index rose 3.3% on an annual basis in December, faster than the revised 2.2% gain recorded in November. Moreover, on an annual basis, output price inflation eased to 2.0% in January, from 2.2% in December, while the core producer price index climbed 0.2% (MoM) in January, higher than the expected 0.1% rise. Separately, the Conference Board’s leading index edged up 0.1% (MoM) to 103.5 in December, following a 0.2% rise in November.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 1.5685, with the GBP trading marginally higher from yesterday’s close.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.5608, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.5531. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.5726, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.5767.
Investors look forward to the Bank of England’s (BoE) quarterly inflation report and the BoE’s Governor King Speech due later today
The currency pair is trading above its 20 Hr moving average and is showing convergence with its 50 Hr moving average.