Investing.com - The pound extended its gains against the dollar on Wednesday, hitting near eight-month highs after the U.S. said it was putting plans to attack Syria on hold, while better-than-expected U.K. jobs data pushed the pair higher as well.
In U.S. trading on Wednesday, GBP/USD was trading at 1.5819, up 0.55%, up from a session low of 1.5719 and off from a high of 1.5829.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5565, Friday's low, and resistance at 1.5892, the high from Jan. 23.
The pound firmed after official data revealed that the U.K. unemployment rate fell to 7.7% in the three months to July from 7.8% in the previous three months.
Analysts were expecting the unemployment rate to remain unchanged.
The number of individuals claiming unemployment benefits in the U.K. fell by 32,600 in August, better than market calls for a decline of 22,000 people.
The data stoked already growing expectations that the Bank of England may raise interest rates sooner than it has indicated.
Last month, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said monetary authorities plan to keep the U.K.'s benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.5% for at least three years though improving economic indicators have many betting that rates may rise sooner than expected.
Meanwhile in the U.S., the greenback fell after U.S. President Barack Obama said his administration would support a Russian plan to take away Syria's chemical weapons cache that would put U.S. military strikes on hold.
The dollar also came under pressure amid ongoing doubts as to whether or not the Federal Reserve will announce at its Sept. 17-18 policy meeting plans to begin tapering its monthly USD85 billion asset-purchasing program.
Lackluster economic indicators have many investors concerned the U.S. central bank may delay plans to begin scaling back asset purchases to later this year, while others feel a September start date will see very minor tapering, which would keep the greenback soft.
The pound, meanwhile, was up against the euro and up against the yen, with EUR/GBP down 0.22% at 0.8416 and GBP/JPY up 0.15% at 158.15.
On Thursday, the U.S. is to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims as well as official data on import prices.
In U.S. trading on Wednesday, GBP/USD was trading at 1.5819, up 0.55%, up from a session low of 1.5719 and off from a high of 1.5829.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5565, Friday's low, and resistance at 1.5892, the high from Jan. 23.
The pound firmed after official data revealed that the U.K. unemployment rate fell to 7.7% in the three months to July from 7.8% in the previous three months.
Analysts were expecting the unemployment rate to remain unchanged.
The number of individuals claiming unemployment benefits in the U.K. fell by 32,600 in August, better than market calls for a decline of 22,000 people.
The data stoked already growing expectations that the Bank of England may raise interest rates sooner than it has indicated.
Last month, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said monetary authorities plan to keep the U.K.'s benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.5% for at least three years though improving economic indicators have many betting that rates may rise sooner than expected.
Meanwhile in the U.S., the greenback fell after U.S. President Barack Obama said his administration would support a Russian plan to take away Syria's chemical weapons cache that would put U.S. military strikes on hold.
The dollar also came under pressure amid ongoing doubts as to whether or not the Federal Reserve will announce at its Sept. 17-18 policy meeting plans to begin tapering its monthly USD85 billion asset-purchasing program.
Lackluster economic indicators have many investors concerned the U.S. central bank may delay plans to begin scaling back asset purchases to later this year, while others feel a September start date will see very minor tapering, which would keep the greenback soft.
The pound, meanwhile, was up against the euro and up against the yen, with EUR/GBP down 0.22% at 0.8416 and GBP/JPY up 0.15% at 158.15.
On Thursday, the U.S. is to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims as well as official data on import prices.