Investing.com - The pound was sharply lower against the dollar on Friday as investors took profits following sterling’s recent strong gains and ongoing concerns over political deadlock in the U.S. weighed on market sentiment.
GBP/USD ended Friday’s session at 1.6009, down 0.91% for the day, after rising to nine-month highs of 1.6259 on Tuesday. For the week, the pair was down 1.10%.
Cable is likely to find support at 1.5900 and resistance at 1.6176, Friday’s high.
A series of economic reports showed that activity in the U.K. manufacturing, services and construction sectors all eased slightly in September, fuelling speculation that the economic recovery is not yet strong enough for the Bank of England to consider rate increases.
Data on Thursday showed that the U.K. services sector purchasing managers’ index ticked down to 60.3 from August's near-seven-year high of 60.5 and was higher than the forecast for a reading of 60.0.
The services sector saw jobs growth in September; something also seen in manufacturing and construction PMI’s earlier in the week.
Data released on Tuesday showed that the U.K. manufacturing activity slowed slightly in September, but remained close to August’s two-and-a-half year highs.
Investor sentiment remained cautious amid concerns that the first U.S. government shutdown for 17 years would derail the fragile economic recovery and prompt the Federal Reserve to maintain its stimulus program for longer.
Markets were also mulling over how the political impasse in Washington will impact on negotiations to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, which the U.S. Treasury Department has estimated will be reached by October 17.
House Republican Leader John Boehner said Friday the House will not vote on a budget bill without conditions and demanded spending cuts in exchange for raising the government's borrowing limit.
The shutdown meant that Friday’s scheduled release of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for September was postponed and no new date was given for the release of the data.
In the week ahead, investors will continue to closely monitor political developments in Washington.
Delays in U.S. economic data releases look likely to fuel uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve will hold off on any move to roll back its USD85 billion a month asset purchase program.
Market participants will be looking ahead to the outcome of Thursday’s BoE policy meeting.
Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of this and other significant events likely to affect the markets. The guide skips Monday and Friday as there are no relevant events on these days.
Tuesday, October 8
The U.K. is to release private sector data on retail sales.
Wednesday, October 9
The U.K. is to release official data on manufacturing and industrial production, as well as data on the trade balance.
Thursday, October 10
The BoE is to announce its benchmark interest rate.
GBP/USD ended Friday’s session at 1.6009, down 0.91% for the day, after rising to nine-month highs of 1.6259 on Tuesday. For the week, the pair was down 1.10%.
Cable is likely to find support at 1.5900 and resistance at 1.6176, Friday’s high.
A series of economic reports showed that activity in the U.K. manufacturing, services and construction sectors all eased slightly in September, fuelling speculation that the economic recovery is not yet strong enough for the Bank of England to consider rate increases.
Data on Thursday showed that the U.K. services sector purchasing managers’ index ticked down to 60.3 from August's near-seven-year high of 60.5 and was higher than the forecast for a reading of 60.0.
The services sector saw jobs growth in September; something also seen in manufacturing and construction PMI’s earlier in the week.
Data released on Tuesday showed that the U.K. manufacturing activity slowed slightly in September, but remained close to August’s two-and-a-half year highs.
Investor sentiment remained cautious amid concerns that the first U.S. government shutdown for 17 years would derail the fragile economic recovery and prompt the Federal Reserve to maintain its stimulus program for longer.
Markets were also mulling over how the political impasse in Washington will impact on negotiations to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, which the U.S. Treasury Department has estimated will be reached by October 17.
House Republican Leader John Boehner said Friday the House will not vote on a budget bill without conditions and demanded spending cuts in exchange for raising the government's borrowing limit.
The shutdown meant that Friday’s scheduled release of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for September was postponed and no new date was given for the release of the data.
In the week ahead, investors will continue to closely monitor political developments in Washington.
Delays in U.S. economic data releases look likely to fuel uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve will hold off on any move to roll back its USD85 billion a month asset purchase program.
Market participants will be looking ahead to the outcome of Thursday’s BoE policy meeting.
Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of this and other significant events likely to affect the markets. The guide skips Monday and Friday as there are no relevant events on these days.
Tuesday, October 8
The U.K. is to release private sector data on retail sales.
Wednesday, October 9
The U.K. is to release official data on manufacturing and industrial production, as well as data on the trade balance.
Thursday, October 10
The BoE is to announce its benchmark interest rate.