Investing.com - The pound hit session highs against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, after official data showed that U.K. consumer prices rose sharply in October, as a result of increases in the cost of food, transport and university fees.
GBP/USD hit 1.5904 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5889, inching up 0.07%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5856, the session low and a two-month low and resistance at 1.6018, Thursday’s high.
The Office for National Statistics said the annual rate of consumer price inflation accelerated to 2.7% in October from 2.2% in September and a five month high.
Analysts had expected U.K. CPI to rise by 2.3% in October.
Month-over-month, consumer price inflation rose 0.1%, below expectations for a 0.2% increase, after rising 0.4% in September.
The data sparked speculation that the Bank of England would have to raise its forecast for short-term inflation in its quarterly inflation report due on Wednesday.
Overall market sentiment continued to be weighed by concerns over a delayed bailout payment for Greece after officials from the International Monetary Fund and Europe failed to reach an agreement on how best to reduce Greece’s debt to manageable levels following talks on Monday.
Safe haven demand continued to be underpinned by concerns over the U.S. fiscal cliff, automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to come into effect on January 1, which could threaten U.S. and global growth.
The pound was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP down 0.31% to 0.7981.
Later in the day, the closely watched ZEW report on German economic sentiment was due to be released, while the U.S. was to release official data on the federal budget balance.
GBP/USD hit 1.5904 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5889, inching up 0.07%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5856, the session low and a two-month low and resistance at 1.6018, Thursday’s high.
The Office for National Statistics said the annual rate of consumer price inflation accelerated to 2.7% in October from 2.2% in September and a five month high.
Analysts had expected U.K. CPI to rise by 2.3% in October.
Month-over-month, consumer price inflation rose 0.1%, below expectations for a 0.2% increase, after rising 0.4% in September.
The data sparked speculation that the Bank of England would have to raise its forecast for short-term inflation in its quarterly inflation report due on Wednesday.
Overall market sentiment continued to be weighed by concerns over a delayed bailout payment for Greece after officials from the International Monetary Fund and Europe failed to reach an agreement on how best to reduce Greece’s debt to manageable levels following talks on Monday.
Safe haven demand continued to be underpinned by concerns over the U.S. fiscal cliff, automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to come into effect on January 1, which could threaten U.S. and global growth.
The pound was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP down 0.31% to 0.7981.
Later in the day, the closely watched ZEW report on German economic sentiment was due to be released, while the U.S. was to release official data on the federal budget balance.