Forexpros – The pound was down against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, trading close to an eight-month low ahead of the release of minutes from the Bank of England’s September policy setting meeting.
GBP/USD hit 1.5688 during European morning trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5689, shedding 0.26%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5631, Monday’s low and an eight-month low and resistance at 1.5746, Monday’s high.
The pound has been hit by speculation that the BoE may resort to fresh monetary easing measures to stimulate growth after a recent slew of soft economic data sparked concerns that growth in the U.K. is faltering.
On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for U.K. growth to 1.1% for this year and 1.6% for 2012.
Meanwhile, concerns over the exposure of U.K. lenders to euro zone sovereign debt have also weighed.
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve was to conclude its two-day policy meeting later in the day and speculation mounted that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke would announce plans to replace short-term Treasuries with long-term bonds, in a move known as Operation Twist.
The pound was also lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP easing up 0.06% to hit 0.8712.
Also Wednesday, the U.S. was to publish industry data on existing home sales.
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