Investing.com - The pound held gains against the U.S. dollar on in thin trade on Tuesday, after official data on U.K. public sector borrowing disappointed market expectations.
GBP/USD hit 1.5777 during European morning trade, the pair’s highest since June 20; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5764, gaining 0.35%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5701, the session low and resistance at 1.5847, the high of May 22.
The National Statistics Office said that public sector net borrowing posted a surplus of GBP1.8 billion in July, compared to a deficit of GBP12.2 billion in June.
Analysts had expected U.K. public sector net borrowing to post a surplus of GBP2.5 billion in July.
The U.K. has now borrowed GBP47.2 billion in the current financial year, over GBP11 billion more than a year ago.
The pound remained supported amid hopes that the European Central Bank will soon undertake purchases of Spanish and Italian government debt in order to lower borrowing costs.
Earlier Tuesday, in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper, the German member of the ECB’s Executive Board, Jörg Asmussen indicated that he would support the bond purchasing program proposed by the ECB, in spite of warnings from Germany’s central bank.
The pound was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP up 0.16% to 0.7869.
Later in the day, the U.K. was to release industry data on retail sales. Trade looked likely to remain subdued on Tuesday, as volumes were thin with many market participants on summer holidays.
GBP/USD hit 1.5777 during European morning trade, the pair’s highest since June 20; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5764, gaining 0.35%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5701, the session low and resistance at 1.5847, the high of May 22.
The National Statistics Office said that public sector net borrowing posted a surplus of GBP1.8 billion in July, compared to a deficit of GBP12.2 billion in June.
Analysts had expected U.K. public sector net borrowing to post a surplus of GBP2.5 billion in July.
The U.K. has now borrowed GBP47.2 billion in the current financial year, over GBP11 billion more than a year ago.
The pound remained supported amid hopes that the European Central Bank will soon undertake purchases of Spanish and Italian government debt in order to lower borrowing costs.
Earlier Tuesday, in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper, the German member of the ECB’s Executive Board, Jörg Asmussen indicated that he would support the bond purchasing program proposed by the ECB, in spite of warnings from Germany’s central bank.
The pound was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP up 0.16% to 0.7869.
Later in the day, the U.K. was to release industry data on retail sales. Trade looked likely to remain subdued on Tuesday, as volumes were thin with many market participants on summer holidays.