Investing.com - The pound came off highs against the dollar on Wednesday after the minutes of the Bank of England’s November meeting said that there were “uncertainties” over the durability of the U.K. economic recovery.
GBP/USD was up just 0.04% to 1.6125 during European morning trade, after rising to session highs of 1.6151 earlier.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6058, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.6200.
The minutes said that recent economic data pointed to a sustained recovery since the bank’s August inflation report, but warned that low levels of inflation within the euro zone could act as a drag on growth.
The minutes also indicated that there were questions over the staying power of the U.K. recovery past the end of this year.
“There were uncertainties over the durability of the recovery and the extent to which supply growth would keep pace with demand", the bank said.
The minutes also said there was a case for not raising interest rates immediately when the 7% unemployment threshold was reached.
The minutes showed that 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.
The dollar’s gains were held in check after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated the bank’s commitment to highly accommodative monetary policy on Tuesday.
Bernanke said the Fed would maintain its accommodative monetary policy for as long as needed and would only taper its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program when it was assured of a sustained recovery in the labor market.
Investors were turning their attention to the minutes of the Fed’s October meeting due later Wednesday for further indications on the future course of U.S. monetary policy.
The U.S. was also to release what would be closely watched data on retail sales and consumer prices.
Elsewhere, sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.17% to 0.8383.
GBP/USD was up just 0.04% to 1.6125 during European morning trade, after rising to session highs of 1.6151 earlier.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6058, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.6200.
The minutes said that recent economic data pointed to a sustained recovery since the bank’s August inflation report, but warned that low levels of inflation within the euro zone could act as a drag on growth.
The minutes also indicated that there were questions over the staying power of the U.K. recovery past the end of this year.
“There were uncertainties over the durability of the recovery and the extent to which supply growth would keep pace with demand", the bank said.
The minutes also said there was a case for not raising interest rates immediately when the 7% unemployment threshold was reached.
The minutes showed that 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.
The dollar’s gains were held in check after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated the bank’s commitment to highly accommodative monetary policy on Tuesday.
Bernanke said the Fed would maintain its accommodative monetary policy for as long as needed and would only taper its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program when it was assured of a sustained recovery in the labor market.
Investors were turning their attention to the minutes of the Fed’s October meeting due later Wednesday for further indications on the future course of U.S. monetary policy.
The U.S. was also to release what would be closely watched data on retail sales and consumer prices.
Elsewhere, sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.17% to 0.8383.