Investing.com – The pound pared losses against the U.S. dollar on Monday, pulling back from a seven-week low following hawkish comments made by Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Andrew Sentance.
GBP/USD hit 1.5936 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s lowest since January 31; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5984, shedding 0.35%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.5819, the low of January 31, and resistance at 1.6141, Friday’s high.
Earlier in the day, BoE Monetary Policy Committee member Andrew Sentance said the central bank should not delay raising interest rates, while adding that he was encouraged by the strength of the recovery in the manufacturing sector.
“If you have interest rates too low for too long the problem we have is it becomes more difficult to raise interest rates more sharply in the future. I would like to see rates raised gradually now and not put it off," said Mr. Sentance.
The pound has rallied this year on the view that the BoE will increase interest rates but uncertainty remains over the timing due to the uneven nature of the U.K. economic recovery.
Elsewhere, the pound was down against the euro, with EUR/GBP easing up 0.03% to hit 0.8785.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release industry data on pending home sales as well as official data on personal spending, personal income and personal consumption expenditures.
GBP/USD hit 1.5936 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s lowest since January 31; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5984, shedding 0.35%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.5819, the low of January 31, and resistance at 1.6141, Friday’s high.
Earlier in the day, BoE Monetary Policy Committee member Andrew Sentance said the central bank should not delay raising interest rates, while adding that he was encouraged by the strength of the recovery in the manufacturing sector.
“If you have interest rates too low for too long the problem we have is it becomes more difficult to raise interest rates more sharply in the future. I would like to see rates raised gradually now and not put it off," said Mr. Sentance.
The pound has rallied this year on the view that the BoE will increase interest rates but uncertainty remains over the timing due to the uneven nature of the U.K. economic recovery.
Elsewhere, the pound was down against the euro, with EUR/GBP easing up 0.03% to hit 0.8785.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release industry data on pending home sales as well as official data on personal spending, personal income and personal consumption expenditures.