Forex Pros – The euro was down against the pound on Wednesday, retreating from a six-month high after a U.K. government report showed that Britain’s economy grew in line with expectations in the first quarter.
EUR/GBP retreated from 0.8924, the pair’s highest since October 25, to hit 0.8857 during European morning trade, shedding 0.30%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8799, the low of April 25 and resistance at 0.8924, the day’s high.
The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product expanded by 0.5% between January and March, in line with forecasts, after contracting by the same amount in the final three months of 2010.
The report said the underlying picture in the first quarter was broadly flat and the level of GDP growth between January and March was the same as in the third quarter of 2010.
Construction shrank 4.7%, the most in two years, the statistics office said. Manufacturing increased by 1.1% in the first quarter, driving a 0.4% overall gain in industrial production. Meanwhile, services expanded by 0.9%, the most since 2006.
The pound was also higher against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD rising 0.51% to hit 1.6565.
Later Wednesday, the U.S. was to publish official data on durable goods orders, while the Federal Reserve was to announce its federal funds rate. The announcement was to be followed by the first-ever post policy meeting press conference by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.
ForexPros.com
