Forex Pros – The euro climbed to a fresh 13-month high against the pound on Thursday, after worse-than-expected data on the U.K. service sector underlined the view that the Bank of England will hold off raising rates for much of the year.
EUR/GBP hit 0.9042 during European morning trade, the pair’s highest since March 22, 2010; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9034, gaining 0.46%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8975, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 0.9119, the high of March 16, 2009.
The Markit/CIPS services purchasing managers’ index slid to 54.3 in April from 57.1 the previous month, staying in positive territory for a fourth straight month, but undershooting the 55.7 forecast.
The report came after data on Wednesday showed that lending to British consumers and homebuyers rose less-than-expected in March and U.K. house prices fell at their fastest pace since November.
The pound was also lower against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD slipping 0.09% to hit 1.6471.
Later in the day, both the European Central Bank and the BoE were to announce their benchmark interest rates. The ECB was expected to prepare markets for a possible follow-up rate hike in June after last month’s rate increase.
ForexPros.com
