Investing.com - The pound remained near three-week highs against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, as demand for the greenback remained under pressure ahead of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's October policy meeting, expected later in the day.
GBP/USD hit 1.6178 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's highest since October 28; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6163, rising 0.27%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6049, the low of November 15 and resistance at 1.6247, the high of October 25.
The dollar remained under pressure after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated the bank’s commitment to highly accommodative monetary policy on Tuesday and said the Fed would only taper its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program when it was assured of a sustained recovery in the labor market.
Interest rates will probably remain near zero for a “considerable time” after the bank winds up the stimulus program, he added.
Meanwhile, industry data showed that U.S. existing home sales declined 3.2% to a seasonally adjusted 5.12 million units in October from 5.29 million in September. Analysts had expected U.S. existing home sales to fall 2.6% to 5.13 million units last month.
The data came after the U.S. Commerce Department said retail sales rose 0.4% in October, beating expectations for a 0.1% increase. Core retail sales were up 0.2%, above expectations for a 0.1% rise.
A separate report showed that U.S. consumer prices fell for the first time in six months in October, declining 0.1%.
In the U.K., the minutes of the Bank of England’s November meeting earlier showed that there were “uncertainties” over the durability of the U.K. economic recover past the end of this year.
The minutes also said there was a case for not raising interest rates immediately when the 7% unemployment threshold was reached.
Recent economic data pointed to a sustained recovery since the bank’s August inflation report, the bank said, but warned that low levels of inflation within the euro zone could act as a drag on growth.
BoE policymakers voted unanimously to leave interest rates on hold at 0.5% and to keep the size of the bank’s asset purchase program unchanged at GBP375 billion.
Sterling was also higher against the euro with EUR/GBP retreating 0.66%, to hit 0.8342.
GBP/USD hit 1.6178 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's highest since October 28; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6163, rising 0.27%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6049, the low of November 15 and resistance at 1.6247, the high of October 25.
The dollar remained under pressure after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated the bank’s commitment to highly accommodative monetary policy on Tuesday and said the Fed would only taper its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program when it was assured of a sustained recovery in the labor market.
Interest rates will probably remain near zero for a “considerable time” after the bank winds up the stimulus program, he added.
Meanwhile, industry data showed that U.S. existing home sales declined 3.2% to a seasonally adjusted 5.12 million units in October from 5.29 million in September. Analysts had expected U.S. existing home sales to fall 2.6% to 5.13 million units last month.
The data came after the U.S. Commerce Department said retail sales rose 0.4% in October, beating expectations for a 0.1% increase. Core retail sales were up 0.2%, above expectations for a 0.1% rise.
A separate report showed that U.S. consumer prices fell for the first time in six months in October, declining 0.1%.
In the U.K., the minutes of the Bank of England’s November meeting earlier showed that there were “uncertainties” over the durability of the U.K. economic recover past the end of this year.
The minutes also said there was a case for not raising interest rates immediately when the 7% unemployment threshold was reached.
Recent economic data pointed to a sustained recovery since the bank’s August inflation report, the bank said, but warned that low levels of inflation within the euro zone could act as a drag on growth.
BoE policymakers voted unanimously to leave interest rates on hold at 0.5% and to keep the size of the bank’s asset purchase program unchanged at GBP375 billion.
Sterling was also higher against the euro with EUR/GBP retreating 0.66%, to hit 0.8342.