Investing.com - The pound held gains against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, as market sentiment remained supported ahead of a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and International Monetary Fund President Christine Lagarde to discuss Greece’s bailout.
GBP/USD hit 1.5500 during U.S. morning trade, the pair’s highest since January 6; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5478, gaining 0.12%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5395, the low of January 9 and resistance at 1.5571, the high of December 30.
Following talks on Monday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel warned Greece that it would not be possible to give further financial aid without swift progress on its second rescue package, including a voluntary write-down on Greek debt held by private creditors.
Market sentiment found support earlier after ratings agency Fitch said that France, the euro zone's second largest economy, would not be downgraded in 2012.
But Fitch warned that Italy still faced a significant chance for a rating’s downgrade, in the absence of significant measures to arrest the spread of the sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone.
Investors remained cautious as the yield on 10-year Italian government bonds remained above the 7% threshold seen as unsustainable, at 7.17%, while the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds was at 5.57% ahead of government bond auctions by the two countries later in the week.
Elsewhere, the pound was fractionally higher against the euro with EUR/GBP edging down 0.04%, to hit 0.8254.
Also Tuesday, industry data showed that house prices in the U.K. fell at a marginally slower pace in the three months to December, with prices expected to continue falling in the coming months.
A separate report showed that U.K. retail sales jumped in December, but retailers expect another difficult year in 2012.
GBP/USD hit 1.5500 during U.S. morning trade, the pair’s highest since January 6; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5478, gaining 0.12%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5395, the low of January 9 and resistance at 1.5571, the high of December 30.
Following talks on Monday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel warned Greece that it would not be possible to give further financial aid without swift progress on its second rescue package, including a voluntary write-down on Greek debt held by private creditors.
Market sentiment found support earlier after ratings agency Fitch said that France, the euro zone's second largest economy, would not be downgraded in 2012.
But Fitch warned that Italy still faced a significant chance for a rating’s downgrade, in the absence of significant measures to arrest the spread of the sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone.
Investors remained cautious as the yield on 10-year Italian government bonds remained above the 7% threshold seen as unsustainable, at 7.17%, while the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds was at 5.57% ahead of government bond auctions by the two countries later in the week.
Elsewhere, the pound was fractionally higher against the euro with EUR/GBP edging down 0.04%, to hit 0.8254.
Also Tuesday, industry data showed that house prices in the U.K. fell at a marginally slower pace in the three months to December, with prices expected to continue falling in the coming months.
A separate report showed that U.K. retail sales jumped in December, but retailers expect another difficult year in 2012.