Investing.com – The pound slumped to a two-day low against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, as concerns over a possible rate hike by China and ongoing fears over the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis weighed on risk appetite.
GBP/USD hit 1.5991 during early European trade, the pair’s lowest since Friday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6022, shedding 0.37%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5910, the low of June 28 and a five-month low and resistance at 1.6117, the high of June 30 and a six-day high.
Speculation over a rate hike by China, possibly as soon as this weekend, mounted after the People's Bank of China said in a statement Monday that inflationary pressures "are still high" while the economy continues to grow at a steady and relatively fast pace.
Also Monday, ratings agency Standard and Poor’s said a proposed plan by French lenders to rollover Greek debt by reinvesting half of the proceeds from maturing Greek government bonds into new 30-year Greek bonds would amount to a “selective default” if implemented.
The pound was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/GBP dipping 0.02% to hit 0.9037.
Later in the day, the U.K. was to release a report on service sector growth, while the U.S. was to publish government data on factory orders.
GBP/USD hit 1.5991 during early European trade, the pair’s lowest since Friday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6022, shedding 0.37%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5910, the low of June 28 and a five-month low and resistance at 1.6117, the high of June 30 and a six-day high.
Speculation over a rate hike by China, possibly as soon as this weekend, mounted after the People's Bank of China said in a statement Monday that inflationary pressures "are still high" while the economy continues to grow at a steady and relatively fast pace.
Also Monday, ratings agency Standard and Poor’s said a proposed plan by French lenders to rollover Greek debt by reinvesting half of the proceeds from maturing Greek government bonds into new 30-year Greek bonds would amount to a “selective default” if implemented.
The pound was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/GBP dipping 0.02% to hit 0.9037.
Later in the day, the U.K. was to release a report on service sector growth, while the U.S. was to publish government data on factory orders.