Investing.com - The pound dipped against the dollar on Thursday, but remained supported closed to seven-month highs ahead of U.S. data on initial jobless claims.
GBP/USD hit 1.5787 during European afternoon trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5803, slipping 0.09%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5717, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.5830, the session high and the highest since early February.
Sterling rose to seven-month highs on Wednesday after data showed that the U.K. unemployment rate unexpectedly declined to 7.7% in July.
The data reinforced expectations that the Bank of England would raise interest rates sooner than it has indicated.
BoE Governor Mark Carney said last month the bank would keep rates on hold until the unemployment rate falls below 7%, something the bank does not see for another three years.
Earlier Thursday, Carney said the U.K. economy is picking up as a result of the bank’s stimulus program. The comments came during testimony to parliament’s Treasury Select Committee.
The dollar remained under pressure after data late last week showing that the U.S. economy added slightly fewer jobs than expected in August raised some doubts over whether the Federal Reserve will start to taper stimulus at its upcoming policy meeting next week.
The pound was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/GBP dipping 0.02% to 0.8411.
Data released on Thursday showed that industrial production in the euro area fell by 1.5% in July, worse than forecasts for a 0.1% decline and the biggest drop in 12 months.
On a year-over-year basis, industrial production fell 2.1% to the lowest level since April 2010, compared to forecasts for a 0.1% decline.
GBP/USD hit 1.5787 during European afternoon trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5803, slipping 0.09%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5717, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.5830, the session high and the highest since early February.
Sterling rose to seven-month highs on Wednesday after data showed that the U.K. unemployment rate unexpectedly declined to 7.7% in July.
The data reinforced expectations that the Bank of England would raise interest rates sooner than it has indicated.
BoE Governor Mark Carney said last month the bank would keep rates on hold until the unemployment rate falls below 7%, something the bank does not see for another three years.
Earlier Thursday, Carney said the U.K. economy is picking up as a result of the bank’s stimulus program. The comments came during testimony to parliament’s Treasury Select Committee.
The dollar remained under pressure after data late last week showing that the U.S. economy added slightly fewer jobs than expected in August raised some doubts over whether the Federal Reserve will start to taper stimulus at its upcoming policy meeting next week.
The pound was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/GBP dipping 0.02% to 0.8411.
Data released on Thursday showed that industrial production in the euro area fell by 1.5% in July, worse than forecasts for a 0.1% decline and the biggest drop in 12 months.
On a year-over-year basis, industrial production fell 2.1% to the lowest level since April 2010, compared to forecasts for a 0.1% decline.