Investing.com – The pound extended early gains against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, jumping to a three-month high after the minutes of the most recent Bank of England policy meeting revealed growing support for an interest rate hike.
GBP/USD hit 1.6274 during European morning trade, the pair’s highest since November 5, 2010; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6213, rising 0.47%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6099, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.6293, the high of November 5.
Earlier in the day, the minutes of the February 10 BoE policy meeting revealed that the bank’s chief economist Spencer Dale joined Andrew Sentance and Martin Weale in voting for higher rates, moving the BoE closer to tightening policy in the face of accelerating inflation.
The minutes showed that policy members voted 6-3 to maintain the benchmark interest rate at a record low 0.50%.
Economists had expected a repeat of last month's 7-2 vote, though another member joining the BoE's hawkish camp had been seen as a possibility after BoE Governor Mervyn King said last week that the MPC was unusually divided.
According to the minutes, “Most members agreed that the balance of risks to inflation in the medium term relative to the target had moved upwards in recent months and that the case for withdrawing some of the current exceptionally accommodative monetary policy had consequently been strengthened".
Meanwhile, the pound was down against the euro, with EUR/GBP easing up 0.02% to hit 0.8459.
Also Wednesday, government data showed that mortgage approvals in the U.K. were unexpectedly unchanged in January, holding steady at 28.9K.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish industry data on existing home sales.
GBP/USD hit 1.6274 during European morning trade, the pair’s highest since November 5, 2010; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6213, rising 0.47%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6099, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.6293, the high of November 5.
Earlier in the day, the minutes of the February 10 BoE policy meeting revealed that the bank’s chief economist Spencer Dale joined Andrew Sentance and Martin Weale in voting for higher rates, moving the BoE closer to tightening policy in the face of accelerating inflation.
The minutes showed that policy members voted 6-3 to maintain the benchmark interest rate at a record low 0.50%.
Economists had expected a repeat of last month's 7-2 vote, though another member joining the BoE's hawkish camp had been seen as a possibility after BoE Governor Mervyn King said last week that the MPC was unusually divided.
According to the minutes, “Most members agreed that the balance of risks to inflation in the medium term relative to the target had moved upwards in recent months and that the case for withdrawing some of the current exceptionally accommodative monetary policy had consequently been strengthened".
Meanwhile, the pound was down against the euro, with EUR/GBP easing up 0.02% to hit 0.8459.
Also Wednesday, government data showed that mortgage approvals in the U.K. were unexpectedly unchanged in January, holding steady at 28.9K.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish industry data on existing home sales.