Investing.com - The pound held steady against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious amid ongoing concerns over U.S. budget negotiations and the prospect of a potential sovereign default.
GBP/USD hit 1.6121 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's highest since October 4; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6105, edging up 0.05%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6006, the low of October 4 and resistance at 1.6241, the high of October 3.
Markets were jittery in the absence of any signs of progress towards a U.S. budget resolution ahead of a deadline to avoid a U.S. sovereign default.
President Barack Obama repeated Monday that he is willing to negotiate with congressional Republicans on a range of topics, including healthcare and energy policy, but only after the government is reopened.
Mr. Obama also called on Congress to raise the government borrowing limit ahead of the October 17 deadline, the date which the Treasury Department has estimated the U.S. could risk a default.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner on Sunday said the House will not support bills to fully reopen the government or increase the U.S. debt ceiling unless the Obama administration agrees to talks aimed at reducing the deficit.
Meanwhile, the pound found some support after the International Monetary Fund upgraded its outlook for the U.K. in its latest World Economic Outlook report.
The IMF said it now expects the U.K. economy to expand by 1.4% this year, up from 0.9% and sees growth of 1.9% in 2014, up from its July forecast of 1.5%.
Sterling was steady against the euro with EUR/GBP easing up 0.01%, to hit 0.8437.
The single currency strengthened mildly after the IMF said it now expected the euro zone economy to contract by 0.4% this year and not by 0.5% as it forecast in July. It left its 2014 growth forecast unchanged at 1%.
The Fund said that while the recovery remained tepid even peripheral euro zone countries should emerge from recession over the next year.
In addition, the IMF downgraded its forecasts for the global economy, saying it now expects growth of 2.9% this year, down from 3.1%. It expects growth of 3.6% in 2014, down from 3.8%.
GBP/USD hit 1.6121 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's highest since October 4; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6105, edging up 0.05%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6006, the low of October 4 and resistance at 1.6241, the high of October 3.
Markets were jittery in the absence of any signs of progress towards a U.S. budget resolution ahead of a deadline to avoid a U.S. sovereign default.
President Barack Obama repeated Monday that he is willing to negotiate with congressional Republicans on a range of topics, including healthcare and energy policy, but only after the government is reopened.
Mr. Obama also called on Congress to raise the government borrowing limit ahead of the October 17 deadline, the date which the Treasury Department has estimated the U.S. could risk a default.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner on Sunday said the House will not support bills to fully reopen the government or increase the U.S. debt ceiling unless the Obama administration agrees to talks aimed at reducing the deficit.
Meanwhile, the pound found some support after the International Monetary Fund upgraded its outlook for the U.K. in its latest World Economic Outlook report.
The IMF said it now expects the U.K. economy to expand by 1.4% this year, up from 0.9% and sees growth of 1.9% in 2014, up from its July forecast of 1.5%.
Sterling was steady against the euro with EUR/GBP easing up 0.01%, to hit 0.8437.
The single currency strengthened mildly after the IMF said it now expected the euro zone economy to contract by 0.4% this year and not by 0.5% as it forecast in July. It left its 2014 growth forecast unchanged at 1%.
The Fund said that while the recovery remained tepid even peripheral euro zone countries should emerge from recession over the next year.
In addition, the IMF downgraded its forecasts for the global economy, saying it now expects growth of 2.9% this year, down from 3.1%. It expects growth of 3.6% in 2014, down from 3.8%.