Forexpros – The pound remained lower against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, as concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone and weak U.K. economic data weighed on demand for sterling.
GBP/USD hit 1.5592 during European afternoon trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5625, slipping 0.15%.
Cable was likely to find short-term support at 1.5575, last Thursday’s low and resistance at 1.5663, the session high.
Market sentiment was hit after ratings agency Standard & Poor’s put the long-term sovereign-debt ratings of 15 euro zone members, including Germany, Italy and Spain on negative watch and said it may carry out a mass downgrade if European leaders fail to agree on measure to address the region’s debt crisis at a summit later this week.
In the U.K. earlier, a report by the British Retail Consortium showed that retail sales posted the largest annual drop in like-for-like sales since May last month, as widespread discounts failed to lure in shoppers.
Meanwhile, mortgage lender Halifax also reported a 0.9% monthly fall in U.K. house prices in November, worse than the 0.1% dip expected by economists, although it said it expected the housing market to hold steady in the coming months.
The pound was also lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.18% to hit 0.8579.
The euro found support after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said EU leaders will take important decisions to stabilize the euro zone at Friday’s summit, but warned that it would be a lengthy process.
Elsewhere, official data showed that German industrial orders for October posted their strongest rise since March 2010.
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