Investing.com - The pound held gains against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, after Bank of England Governor Mervyn King dampened expectations for further monetary easing while investors remained cautious after the European Central Bank’s loan operation.
GBP/USD hit 1.5959 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since November 14; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5937, rising 0.22%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5875, the low of November 3 and resistance at 1.5984, the high of November 10.
Speaking before the U.K. parliament’s Treasury Committee, King said "By and large, I don't think there's any hard and fast expectation that we're inevitably going to do much more." Earlier this month, the BoE added GBP50 billion to its asset purchasing program, taking the total program to GBP325 billion.
BoE policymakers added that they expect very subdued growth in the first half of the year, followed by a gradual strengthening.
Also Wednesday, data showed that consumer confidence in the U.K. remained unchanged in February, after rising to seven-month high last month.
A separate report showed that U.K. net lending to individuals rose more-than-expected in January, climbing GBP1.8 billion after a GBP0.9 billion increase the previous month.
Meanwhile, the ECB said that it had allotted EUR529 billion in three-year loans to European lenders, after receiving bids from 800 banks, significantly more than in the bank’s first long term refinancing operation of EUR489 billion in three-year loans to 523 banks late last year.
The high uptake on the operation sparked concerns that banks in the region expect liquidity pressures to continue.
Elsewhere, sterling was also higher against the euro with EUR/GBP shedding 0.30%, to hit 0.8439.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a preliminary report on fourth-quarter gross domestic product, followed by data on manufacturing activity in the Chicago area.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was also due to testify on the semi-annual monetary policy report before the House Financial Services Committee in Washington.
GBP/USD hit 1.5959 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since November 14; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5937, rising 0.22%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5875, the low of November 3 and resistance at 1.5984, the high of November 10.
Speaking before the U.K. parliament’s Treasury Committee, King said "By and large, I don't think there's any hard and fast expectation that we're inevitably going to do much more." Earlier this month, the BoE added GBP50 billion to its asset purchasing program, taking the total program to GBP325 billion.
BoE policymakers added that they expect very subdued growth in the first half of the year, followed by a gradual strengthening.
Also Wednesday, data showed that consumer confidence in the U.K. remained unchanged in February, after rising to seven-month high last month.
A separate report showed that U.K. net lending to individuals rose more-than-expected in January, climbing GBP1.8 billion after a GBP0.9 billion increase the previous month.
Meanwhile, the ECB said that it had allotted EUR529 billion in three-year loans to European lenders, after receiving bids from 800 banks, significantly more than in the bank’s first long term refinancing operation of EUR489 billion in three-year loans to 523 banks late last year.
The high uptake on the operation sparked concerns that banks in the region expect liquidity pressures to continue.
Elsewhere, sterling was also higher against the euro with EUR/GBP shedding 0.30%, to hit 0.8439.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a preliminary report on fourth-quarter gross domestic product, followed by data on manufacturing activity in the Chicago area.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was also due to testify on the semi-annual monetary policy report before the House Financial Services Committee in Washington.