Forex Pros – The pound extended losses against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, falling to a three-day low after data showed an unexpected increase in the jobless claimant count in April, while Bank of England minutes showed policymakers maintained the vote to keep rates unchanged this month.
GBP/USD hit 1.6224 during European early afternoon trade, the pair’s lowest since May 13; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6234, slipping 0.10%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6090, the low of April 5 and resistance at 1.6379, the high of May 12.
The Office for National Statistics said the number of people claiming jobless benefit rose by 12,400 last month, following an upwardly revised increase of 6,400 in March. Analysts had forecast an unchanged reading.
The report said the jobless rate dipped to 7.7% in March as the number of people without a jobs fell by 36,000 in the three months to March. That was below forecasts for a reading of 7.8% and the lowest since the three months to September 2010.
Separately, the BoE maintained its 6-3 vote to keep interest rates at a record low of 0.5% this month. Economists had seen a small chance that some policymakers would drop their call for higher rates this month following sluggish first-quarter growth.
The pound was also lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.60% to hit 0.8812.
Later in the day, the Federal Reserve was to publish the minutes of its April policy meeting.
ForexPros.com
