Investing.com - The pound was steady against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, trading close to a two-day high after the Bank of England kept monetary policy unchanged, as market sentiment was supported by hopes that Greece was close to concluding a bond swap deal with private sector creditors.
GBP/USD hit 1.5832 during European early afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since Tuesday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5801, gaining 0.38%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5696, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.5881, Tuesday’s high.
The BoE kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5%, where it has been since March 2009, and announced no expansion to its GBP325 billion asset purchase program, following a GBP50 billion increase in the previous month.
The minutes of the central bank’s monetary policy committee meeting will be published on Wednesday, March 21.
Risk appetite remained supported by reports that a number of major European financial institutions had signed up to Greece’s bond swap deal, which is aimed at writing down 53.5% of the country’s EUR177 billion debt.
Major Greek banks, along with most pension funds, have also agreed to participate in the bond swap.
A positive outcome should clear the way for Greece to tap a second bailout package and avert a messy debt default.
The pound was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP adding 0.36% to hit 0.8383.
Later Thursday, the European Central Bank was to hold its policy setting meeting, which was to be followed by a closely watched press conference. In addition, the U.S. was to produce government data on initial jobless claims.
GBP/USD hit 1.5832 during European early afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since Tuesday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5801, gaining 0.38%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5696, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.5881, Tuesday’s high.
The BoE kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5%, where it has been since March 2009, and announced no expansion to its GBP325 billion asset purchase program, following a GBP50 billion increase in the previous month.
The minutes of the central bank’s monetary policy committee meeting will be published on Wednesday, March 21.
Risk appetite remained supported by reports that a number of major European financial institutions had signed up to Greece’s bond swap deal, which is aimed at writing down 53.5% of the country’s EUR177 billion debt.
Major Greek banks, along with most pension funds, have also agreed to participate in the bond swap.
A positive outcome should clear the way for Greece to tap a second bailout package and avert a messy debt default.
The pound was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP adding 0.36% to hit 0.8383.
Later Thursday, the European Central Bank was to hold its policy setting meeting, which was to be followed by a closely watched press conference. In addition, the U.S. was to produce government data on initial jobless claims.