Forexpros – The pound pared gains against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, pulling back from a one-month high in choppy trade, as investors remained on edge ahead of an emergency euro zone summit to discuss Greece’s debt later in the day.
GBP/USD pulled away from 1.6199, the pair’s highest since June 22, to hit 1.6172 during European afternoon trade, still up 0.13% on the day.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6039, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.6262, the high of June 22.
Earlier in the day, the pound fell to a daily low against the greenback after Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker said a selective default for Greece was possible.
Market sentiment had been lifted in early trade after France and Germany announced that they had reached a joint agreement on how to deal with the Greek debt problem. Details of the deal were to be outlined at the summit of all 17 euro zone leaders later Thursday.
Meanwhile, official data showed that retail sales in the U.K. rose slightly more-than-expected in June, after falling sharply in May.
The Office for National Statistics said retail sales rose 0.7% last month, slightly above expectations for a 0.6% gain.
The pound was also higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.36% to hit 0.8769.
Also Thursday, Britain’s Finance Minister George Osborne urged euro zone leaders to “get a grip” on the debt crisis, warning that failure to effectively manage the problem could result in an economic crisis as serious as the recession that followed 2008’s banking crash.
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