Investing.com - The pound rose to session highs against the dollar on Wednesday after the minutes of the Bank of England’s March meeting showed that policymakers remained split over more easing, while elsewhere data showed that the U.K. unemployment rate held steady February.
GBP/USD hit 1.5158 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since March 15; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5145, gaining 0.32%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5026, the session low and resistance at 1.5272, the high of February 21.
The minutes of the BoE’s March meeting showed that policymakers voted unanimously to keep interest rates on hold.
The minutes also showed that three policymakers, including Governor Mervyn King, voted in favor of more quantitative easing, unchanged from the February meeting.
Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics said that the claimant count fell by a seasonally adjusted 1,500 in February, compared to expectations for a decline of 5,000 people.
The rate of unemployment held steady at 7.8% last month, in line with expectations and unchanged from January.
Elsewhere, sterling was little changed against the euro, with EUR/GBP dipping 0.01% to 0.8532.
Later Wednesday, U.K. Chancellor George Osborne was to deliver the U.K. annual budget in a statement to parliament, and was also likely to revise down growth forecasts.
GBP/USD hit 1.5158 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since March 15; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5145, gaining 0.32%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5026, the session low and resistance at 1.5272, the high of February 21.
The minutes of the BoE’s March meeting showed that policymakers voted unanimously to keep interest rates on hold.
The minutes also showed that three policymakers, including Governor Mervyn King, voted in favor of more quantitative easing, unchanged from the February meeting.
Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics said that the claimant count fell by a seasonally adjusted 1,500 in February, compared to expectations for a decline of 5,000 people.
The rate of unemployment held steady at 7.8% last month, in line with expectations and unchanged from January.
Elsewhere, sterling was little changed against the euro, with EUR/GBP dipping 0.01% to 0.8532.
Later Wednesday, U.K. Chancellor George Osborne was to deliver the U.K. annual budget in a statement to parliament, and was also likely to revise down growth forecasts.