GBPUSD Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT on Friday, GBP fell marginally against the USD and closed at 1.6069, weighed down by disappointing UK economic data.
On the economic front, UK’s mortgage approvals for house purchases rose to a seasonally adjusted 54,036 in November, up from 53,071 in October. Additionally, consumer credit increased by £0.1 billion in November, following a decline of £0.3 billion in October. The seasonally adjusted purchasing managers’ index for the service sector dropped to 48.9 in December, from 50.2 in November. Also, M4 money supply declined 0.2% (MoM) in November, following a 0.2% rise in October.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 1.6036, with the GBP trading 0.2% lower from Friday’s close.
On Sunday, UK’s Prime Minister, David Cameron predicted a difficult year for the country indicating that the economy that would require maintaining the current mix of low interest rates and budget-deficit reduction.
This morning, the Lloyds employment confidence index in the UK, remained unchanged at a reading of -42.0 in December, compared to a similar reading recorded in the previous month.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.6003, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.597. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.6076, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.6116.
The currency pair is trading below its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
