Forexpros – The pound trimmed losses against the U.S. dollar in thin year-end trade on Thursday, after relatively upbeat U.S. data but gains were capped by sustained concerns over the handling of the debt crisis in the euro zone.
GBP/USD pulled back from 1.5362, the pair’s lowest since October 6 to hit 1.5425 during U.S. morning trade, still down 0.21%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5326, the low of September 22 and a one-year low and resistance at 1.5518, the high of November 25.
Sterling briefly found support after data showed that U.S. pending home sales rose far more-than-expected in November, surging 7.3% after a 10.3% increase the previous month.
Analysts had expected pending home sales to rise 1.7% in November.
In a separate report, research group Kingsbury International said its Chicago purchasing managers’ index dipped to 62.5 in December from a reading of 62.6 in November, which was the highest since April.
The data came after the U.S. Department of Labor said that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending December 23 rose to 381,000, disappointing expectations for a rise to 370,000.
Despite, the increase claims have fallen below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in seven of the past eight weeks.
Market sentiment was hit earlier after Italy’s Treasury sold just over EUR7 billion of long-term debt maturing between 2014 and 2022, below the maximum target of EUR8.5 billion.
The country sold EUR2.5 billion of 10-year bonds, maturing in March 2022, at an average yield of 6.97%, down from November’s euro-record high 7.56%. The country also auctioned EUR2.5 billion of three-year bonds, at an average yield of 5.62%.
Following the auction, the yield on Italy’s 10-year bonds traded at 7.1%, above the critical 7% threshold widely seen as unsustainable in the long-term.
The sale was seen as the first test of European banks’ willingness to purchase long-term sovereign debt of distressed euro zone countries, following last week’s nearly EUR500 billion cash infusion by the European Central Bank.
Elsewhere, the pound was fractionally higher against the euro with EUR/GBP easing 0.01%, to trade at 0.8371.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on crude oil stockpiles.
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