Investing.com - The pound edged higher against the U.S. dollar on Friday, but gains were capped as fresh hopes for progress on the U.S. budget front before the upcoming debt ceiling deadline lent support to the greenback.
GBP/USD hit 1.6002 during European morning trade, the pair's highest since Wednesday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5985, adding 0.12%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5893, the low of September 18 and resistance at 1.6120, the high of October 9.
No deal emerged after a 90-minute meeting between President Barack Obama and Republican leaders on Thursday, but talks continued into the night in an effort to reopen the government and avoid a possible U.S. debt default.
President Obama has demanded Republicans raise the U.S. debt ceiling and reopen the government before negotiations on future fiscal policy can take place.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew reiterated Thursday that the U.S. will reach its debt ceiling on October 17 and warned that the political crisis is starting to hurt the economy. The comments came during testimony to the Senate finance committee.
The pound remained near three-week lows after the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted on Thursday to leave its benchmark interest rate on hold at 0.5% and made no changes to its GBP375 billion quantitative easing program.
Sterling was lower against the euro with EUR/GBP edging up 0.17%, to hit 0.8482.
Later in the day, the University of Michigan was to release preliminary data on consumer sentiment.
GBP/USD hit 1.6002 during European morning trade, the pair's highest since Wednesday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5985, adding 0.12%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5893, the low of September 18 and resistance at 1.6120, the high of October 9.
No deal emerged after a 90-minute meeting between President Barack Obama and Republican leaders on Thursday, but talks continued into the night in an effort to reopen the government and avoid a possible U.S. debt default.
President Obama has demanded Republicans raise the U.S. debt ceiling and reopen the government before negotiations on future fiscal policy can take place.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew reiterated Thursday that the U.S. will reach its debt ceiling on October 17 and warned that the political crisis is starting to hurt the economy. The comments came during testimony to the Senate finance committee.
The pound remained near three-week lows after the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted on Thursday to leave its benchmark interest rate on hold at 0.5% and made no changes to its GBP375 billion quantitative easing program.
Sterling was lower against the euro with EUR/GBP edging up 0.17%, to hit 0.8482.
Later in the day, the University of Michigan was to release preliminary data on consumer sentiment.