Forexpros – The pound rose to a fresh 12-week high against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, as market sentiment was bolstered by hopes that Greece may soon reach a consensus on a debt restructuring deal.
GBP/USD hit 1.5925 during early European trade, the pair’s highest since November 15; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5914, gaining 0.12%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5787, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.6092, the high of November 14.
Later in the day, Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos was to hold talks with the leaders of Greece’s three political parties to discuss the terms of new austerity measures being demanded in return for a second bailout, worth EUR130 billion.
The deeply unpopular measures include billions of euros in government spending reductions, as well as cuts to pensions and wages.
Greece needs to finalize a debt restructuring deal by early March as part of an agreement to receive a second bailout package.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the dollar was dented after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated that the central bank would keep borrowing costs close to zero for another two years, despite data last week showing the U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to a three-year low.
In testimony to the Senate Budget Committee in Washington on Tuesday, Bernanke said the decline in the jobless rate understated weakness in the labor market.
The pound was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/GBP inching up 0.01% to hit 0.8342.
Earlier Wednesday, official data showed that German exports fell at their fastest rate in nearly three years in December, narrowing the trade surplus to EUR13.9 billion from a revised EUR14.9 billion the previous month.
The data sparked concerns that the official fourth quarter estimate for an economic contraction of 0.25% may have to be revised down.
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