Investing.com - The euro was steady against the pound on Monday, trading within striking range of a 16-month low as Friday’s mass downgrade of euro zone sovereigns and renewed concerns about a Greek debt default weighed on the single currency.
EUR/GBP hit 0.8255 during European morning trade, the pair’s lowest since January 11; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8276, dipping 0.01%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8221, the low of January 9 and a 16-month low and short-term resistance at 0.8293, the high of January 11.
Standard & Poor’s cut the ratings of France and eight other euro zone nations on Friday, following warnings in December and said it would decide shortly whether to cut the triple-A rating on the euro zone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
Meanwhile, talks aimed at negotiating a restructuring of Greece's debts broke down on Friday, amid disagreements over how much money investors will lose by swapping their bonds, raising fears over a possible default. The talks were set to resume later in the week.
Reacting to the downgrades earlier, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said that the euro zone needs to show that it can stand behind the shared currency and resolve Greece’s debt crisis.
Also Monday, a report by the U.K.’s largest property website Rightmove showed that house prices were up 1.4% in the first week of 2012, but remained down 0.8% on the month, indicating that a shortage of new sellers is likely to underpin prices this year.
The pound was lower against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD slipping 0.15% to hit 1.5294.
Also Monday, markets in the U.S. were to remain closed for a national holiday.
EUR/GBP hit 0.8255 during European morning trade, the pair’s lowest since January 11; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8276, dipping 0.01%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8221, the low of January 9 and a 16-month low and short-term resistance at 0.8293, the high of January 11.
Standard & Poor’s cut the ratings of France and eight other euro zone nations on Friday, following warnings in December and said it would decide shortly whether to cut the triple-A rating on the euro zone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
Meanwhile, talks aimed at negotiating a restructuring of Greece's debts broke down on Friday, amid disagreements over how much money investors will lose by swapping their bonds, raising fears over a possible default. The talks were set to resume later in the week.
Reacting to the downgrades earlier, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said that the euro zone needs to show that it can stand behind the shared currency and resolve Greece’s debt crisis.
Also Monday, a report by the U.K.’s largest property website Rightmove showed that house prices were up 1.4% in the first week of 2012, but remained down 0.8% on the month, indicating that a shortage of new sellers is likely to underpin prices this year.
The pound was lower against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD slipping 0.15% to hit 1.5294.
Also Monday, markets in the U.S. were to remain closed for a national holiday.