Investing.com - The pound edged lower against the U.S. dollar on Monday, as market sentiment was hit by a combination of worries over Greece and Spain and concerns over the outlook for global growth.
GBP/USD hit 1.6031 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s lowest since Thursday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6036, shedding 0.42%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5989, the low of October 22 and resistance at 1.6096, the session high.
Investors remained cautious amid growing doubts over whether Greece can meet austerity targets as coalition talks on the latest round of spending cuts remained deadlocked.
Meanwhile, investors were eyeing a meeting between Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti later in the day, as pressure mounted on Spain to request a bailout from its euro zone partners.
Market sentiment was also weighed by concerns over the global economic outlook, despite Friday’s better-than-expected U.S. data on economic growth, as weak third quarter corporate earnings results fuelled fears over a slowdown in demand.
The pound shrugged off official data showing that U.K. bank lending rose at the fastest pace in more than four-and-a-half years in September, while mortgage approvals also came in higher than expected.
The Bank of England said total net lending to individuals rose to GBP1.7 billion in September, after a decline of GBP0.3 billion in August, the strongest rise since February 2008. Analysts had expected net lending to increase to GBP0.6 billion.
The BoE said mortgage approvals rose to 50,024 in September, up from 47,921 in August, beating analysts' forecasts for 48,000.
Sterling was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/GBP inching up 0.06% to 0.8040.
Trading activity was expected to remain light during U.S. trading hours on Monday, as a result of the first market-wide, unscheduled closure since September 2001 as Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the northeastern U.S.
GBP/USD hit 1.6031 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s lowest since Thursday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6036, shedding 0.42%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5989, the low of October 22 and resistance at 1.6096, the session high.
Investors remained cautious amid growing doubts over whether Greece can meet austerity targets as coalition talks on the latest round of spending cuts remained deadlocked.
Meanwhile, investors were eyeing a meeting between Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti later in the day, as pressure mounted on Spain to request a bailout from its euro zone partners.
Market sentiment was also weighed by concerns over the global economic outlook, despite Friday’s better-than-expected U.S. data on economic growth, as weak third quarter corporate earnings results fuelled fears over a slowdown in demand.
The pound shrugged off official data showing that U.K. bank lending rose at the fastest pace in more than four-and-a-half years in September, while mortgage approvals also came in higher than expected.
The Bank of England said total net lending to individuals rose to GBP1.7 billion in September, after a decline of GBP0.3 billion in August, the strongest rise since February 2008. Analysts had expected net lending to increase to GBP0.6 billion.
The BoE said mortgage approvals rose to 50,024 in September, up from 47,921 in August, beating analysts' forecasts for 48,000.
Sterling was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/GBP inching up 0.06% to 0.8040.
Trading activity was expected to remain light during U.S. trading hours on Monday, as a result of the first market-wide, unscheduled closure since September 2001 as Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the northeastern U.S.