Pound rises vs dollar as markets await Fed minutes

Pound rises vs dollar as markets await Fed minutes

8 April 2015, 11:13
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On Wednesday the British currency was higher versus its US rival, as demand for the greenback weakened ahead of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting due later in the day.

GBP/USD hit 1.4903 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4891, climbing 0.55%. Cable was likely to find support at 1.4797, Tuesday's low and resistance at 1.4982, the high of April 6.

Sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.16% to 0.7291.

Investors were closely watching the Fed's upcoming meeting minutes for signs on the central bank's next policy moves after Friday's downbeat jobs data fuelled uncertainty over the timing of a rate hike.

On Friday the US Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 126,000 new jobs in March, less than half of February’s gain and the smallest increase since December 2013.

Data on Tuesday showed that U.K. service sector activity expanded at the fastest rate in seven months in March, also supporting the pound.

Research group Markit said the U.K. services purchasing managers' index increased to 58.9 last month from a reading of 56.7 in February. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 57.0 in March.

In the euro zone, official data earlier showed that German factory orders fell 0.9% in February, disappointing expectations for an increase of 1.5%. January's numbers were revised to a 2.6% drop from a previously estimated 3.9% slide.

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