Forexpros – The pound extended gains against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, advancing to a two-week high following the release of strong U.K. employment data and the minutes of the Bank of England’s April meeting.
GBP/USD hit 1.5994 during European morning trade, the pair’s highest since April 3; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5989, gaining 0.41%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5894, the session low and resistance at 1.6045, the high of April 3.
The pound was boosted after official data showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the U.K. rose less-than-expected last month, while the unemployment rate ticked down unexpectedly.
The Office for National Statistics said that the claimant count rose by a seasonally adjusted 3,600 in March, below expectations for an increase of 7,000.
The previous month’s figure was revised down to an increase of 4,500 from a previously reported gain of 7,200.
The rate of unemployment ticked down to 8.3% from 8.4% in February, which was the highest since 1995.
Meanwhile, the minutes of the BoE’s April meeting showed that just one policymaker voted in favor of additional monetary easing, after two of the nine member monetary policy committee favored additional stimulus in March.
The news sent the euro tumbling to a fresh 19-month low against the pound, with EUR/GBP falling 0.71% to hit 0.8185.
Also Wednesday, official data showed that the euro zone current account swung to an unexpected deficit of EUR1.3 billion in February, from a surplus of EUR3.7 billion the previous month.
Economists had expected the region’s current account surplus to widen to EUR5.0 billion in February.
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