Investing.com - The pound rose to fresh seven-month highs against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, as hopes for the Bank of England to raise interest rates sooner than expected continued to support demand for sterling.
GBP/USD hit 1.5832 during U.S. morning trade; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5832, easing up 0.09%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5717, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.5830, the session high and the highest since early February.
Sterling rallied to seven-month highs on Wednesday after data showed that the U.K. unemployment rate unexpectedly declined to 7.7% in July.
The data reinforced expectations that the BoE would raise interest rates sooner than it has indicated.
BoE Governor Mark Carney said last month the bank would keep rates on hold until the unemployment rate falls below 7%, something the bank does not see for another three years.
Earlier Thursday, Carney said the U.K. economy is picking up as a result of the bank’s stimulus program. The comments came during testimony to parliament’s Treasury Select Committee.
In the U.S., the Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance fell by 31,000 to a seasonally adjusted 292,000 from 323,000 in the previous week.
However, the report said the decline was largely due to two states not processing all claims received because of computer upgrades.
Sterling was steady against the euro with EUR/GBP easing 0.04%, to hit 0.8412.
In the euro zone, data showed that industrial production area fell by 1.5% in July, worse than forecasts for a 0.1% decline and the biggest drop in 12 months.
On a year-over-year basis, industrial production fell 2.1% to the lowest level since April 2010, compared to forecasts for a 0.1% decline.
GBP/USD hit 1.5832 during U.S. morning trade; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5832, easing up 0.09%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5717, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.5830, the session high and the highest since early February.
Sterling rallied to seven-month highs on Wednesday after data showed that the U.K. unemployment rate unexpectedly declined to 7.7% in July.
The data reinforced expectations that the BoE would raise interest rates sooner than it has indicated.
BoE Governor Mark Carney said last month the bank would keep rates on hold until the unemployment rate falls below 7%, something the bank does not see for another three years.
Earlier Thursday, Carney said the U.K. economy is picking up as a result of the bank’s stimulus program. The comments came during testimony to parliament’s Treasury Select Committee.
In the U.S., the Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance fell by 31,000 to a seasonally adjusted 292,000 from 323,000 in the previous week.
However, the report said the decline was largely due to two states not processing all claims received because of computer upgrades.
Sterling was steady against the euro with EUR/GBP easing 0.04%, to hit 0.8412.
In the euro zone, data showed that industrial production area fell by 1.5% in July, worse than forecasts for a 0.1% decline and the biggest drop in 12 months.
On a year-over-year basis, industrial production fell 2.1% to the lowest level since April 2010, compared to forecasts for a 0.1% decline.