Forex Pros – The pound held gains against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, trading close to a two-week high but further gains were capped amid concerns over the uneven nature of the U.K. economic recovery
GBP/USD hit 1.6334 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since May 12; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6297, gaining 16%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6130, Wednesday’s low and short-term resistance at 1.6379, the high of May 12.
Official data on Wednesday confirmed that the U.K. economy grew 0.5% in the first quarter after contracting by the same amount in the last three months of 2010. Annual growth was unrevised at 1.8%.
The report said that household spending saw its sharpest quarterly fall in almost two years, underlining the view that the Bank of England is unlikely to raise interest rates in the coming months.
Meanwhile, the pound was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.31% to hit 0.8683.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish revised government data on first quarter economic growth as well as a weekly report on initial jobless claims.
ForexPros.com
