Investing.com - The pound held steady against the U.S. dollar on Monday, as investors remained cautious ahead of a series of euro zone meetings throughout the week, while hopes for the European Central Bank to move to limit peripheral euro zone bond yields faded.
GBP/USD hit 1.5718 during European afternoon trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5690, dipping 0.03%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5635, the low of August 16 and resistance at 1.5776, the high of June 20.
Luxemburg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who also heads the group of euro zone finance ministers, was to hold talks with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Wednesday, to discuss a two-year extension of the country’s economic reform program.
Samaras was expected in Berlin and Paris at the end of the week, after French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet in the German capital on Thursday.
But investors remained cautious after Germany’s Finance Ministry said it was not aware of any ECB plans to target euro zone bond spreads, following media reports that the central bank may set limits on the yields of euro zone government bonds.
German magazine Der Spiegel reported Sunday that the ECB may set an interest rate threshold on purchases of euro-area sovereign debt at its next policy meeting in September, beyond which its bond buying program would be activated.
The ECB declined to comment on the report.
Separately, investors were looking ahead to the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s August policy meeting later in the week, amid speculation over how close the U.S. central bank may be to implementing another round of stimulus measures.
In the U.K., industry data showed earlier that house prices declined by 2.4% in August after a 1.7% drop the previous month.
The report came after a string of upbeat U.K. economic data last week indicated that the economy may not be performing as poorly as had been feared.
Elsewhere, the pound was higher against the euro with EUR/GBP shedding 0.20%, to hit 0.7843.
Trade looked likely to remain subdued on Monday, with no significant economic data releases on the calendar, while volumes were light with many market participants on summer holidays.
GBP/USD hit 1.5718 during European afternoon trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5690, dipping 0.03%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5635, the low of August 16 and resistance at 1.5776, the high of June 20.
Luxemburg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who also heads the group of euro zone finance ministers, was to hold talks with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Wednesday, to discuss a two-year extension of the country’s economic reform program.
Samaras was expected in Berlin and Paris at the end of the week, after French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet in the German capital on Thursday.
But investors remained cautious after Germany’s Finance Ministry said it was not aware of any ECB plans to target euro zone bond spreads, following media reports that the central bank may set limits on the yields of euro zone government bonds.
German magazine Der Spiegel reported Sunday that the ECB may set an interest rate threshold on purchases of euro-area sovereign debt at its next policy meeting in September, beyond which its bond buying program would be activated.
The ECB declined to comment on the report.
Separately, investors were looking ahead to the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s August policy meeting later in the week, amid speculation over how close the U.S. central bank may be to implementing another round of stimulus measures.
In the U.K., industry data showed earlier that house prices declined by 2.4% in August after a 1.7% drop the previous month.
The report came after a string of upbeat U.K. economic data last week indicated that the economy may not be performing as poorly as had been feared.
Elsewhere, the pound was higher against the euro with EUR/GBP shedding 0.20%, to hit 0.7843.
Trade looked likely to remain subdued on Monday, with no significant economic data releases on the calendar, while volumes were light with many market participants on summer holidays.