Investing.com – The pound rallied to a two-week high against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, after a surprisingly strong rise in Britain's services sector rekindled expectations of a near-term rate hike by the Bank of England.
GBP/USD hit 1.6363 during early European trade, the pair’s highest since March 23; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6335, gaining 0.24%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6090, Monday’s low and resistance at 1.6384, the high of March23.
Data on Tuesday showed the U.K. service sector growing at its fastest pace in over a year and pointed to solid first-quarter GDP growth, making a rate hike by the central bank in May more likely.
The BoE was expected to keep rates close to zero at its meeting on Thursday. In March, three policymakers supported a rate increase, but others were worried that the fourth-quarter's shock GDP contraction could mark the start of an extended period of sub-par growth.
Meanwhile, the pound was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.30% to hit 0.8754.
Earlier Wednesday, a report by U.K. lender Halifax showed that house prices edged higher in March but the small upward move was not enough to prevent prices falling over the first quarter of the year.
GBP/USD hit 1.6363 during early European trade, the pair’s highest since March 23; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6335, gaining 0.24%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6090, Monday’s low and resistance at 1.6384, the high of March23.
Data on Tuesday showed the U.K. service sector growing at its fastest pace in over a year and pointed to solid first-quarter GDP growth, making a rate hike by the central bank in May more likely.
The BoE was expected to keep rates close to zero at its meeting on Thursday. In March, three policymakers supported a rate increase, but others were worried that the fourth-quarter's shock GDP contraction could mark the start of an extended period of sub-par growth.
Meanwhile, the pound was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.30% to hit 0.8754.
Earlier Wednesday, a report by U.K. lender Halifax showed that house prices edged higher in March but the small upward move was not enough to prevent prices falling over the first quarter of the year.