Investing.com - The pound held gains against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, as markets eyed a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and International Monetary Fund President Christine Lagarde later in the day, to discuss Greece’s bailout.
GBP/USD hit 1.5500 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since January 6; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5478, adding 0.13%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5395, the low of January 9 and resistance at 1.5544, the high of January 2.
Investors remained cautious after Angela Merkel warned Greece on Monday 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.
Merkel also said she was optimistic that the European Union will be able to sign off its fiscal pact by the end of January.
Meanwhile, concerns over weakness in the euro zone banking sector persisted after a report showed earlier that overnight deposits at the European Central Bank on Tuesday hit a fresh record of EUR481.935 billion, indicating that banks in the region remain unwilling to lend to each other.
Elsewhere, the pound was moderately lower against the euro with EUR/GBP rising 0.10%, to hit 0.8266.
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 European afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since January 6; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5478, adding 0.13%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5395, the low of January 9 and resistance at 1.5544, the high of January 2.
Investors remained cautious after Angela Merkel warned Greece on Monday 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.
Merkel also said she was optimistic that the European Union will be able to sign off its fiscal pact by the end of January.
Meanwhile, concerns over weakness in the euro zone banking sector persisted after a report showed earlier that overnight deposits at the European Central Bank on Tuesday hit a fresh record of EUR481.935 billion, indicating that banks in the region remain unwilling to lend to each other.
Elsewhere, the pound was moderately lower against the euro with EUR/GBP rising 0.10%, to hit 0.8266.
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.