Forexpros – The euro edged higher against the pound on Wednesday, but gains were limited as a combination of concerns over the success of a Greek private sector debt swap and the outlook for global economic growth weighed.
EUR/GBP hit 0.8360 during European morning trade, the pair’s highest since March 1; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8354, easing up 0.13%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8313, the low of March 2 and an almost two-week low and short-term resistance at 0.8382, Tuesday’s high.
Sentiment on the single currency remained fragile amid uncertainty over the level of participation in a EUR106 billion Greek bond swap, a requirement for Athens to tap a recently approved EUR130 billion bailout fund.
On Tuesday, Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos strongly urged private sector creditors to take part in the debt swap deal and warned that bond-holders who rejected the deal would not be paid out later.
Meanwhile, the outlook for global growth remained downbeat after official data showed that Australia’s economy expanded less than expected in the fourth quarter.
The data came one day after a report confirmed that the euro zone’s economy contracted by 0.3% in the last three months of 2011, as household spending, exports and imports all fell.
The euro was also higher against the U.S. dollar and the yen, with EUR/USD adding 0.34% to hit 1.3157 and EUR/JPY rising 0.20% to hit 106.27.
Later Wednesday, Germany was to release official data on industrial orders, while the U.S. was to publish a report on ADP non-farm payrolls, which precedes government data non-farm payrolls by two days.
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