Forex Pros – The pound extended losses against the U.S. dollar on Monday, tracking the euro lower, as markets pared expectations for a rate hike by the Bank of England next month.
GBP/USD hit 1.6244 during European morning trade, the pair’s lowest since last Wednesday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6275, shedding 0.31%.
Cable was likely to find short-term support at 1.6226, the low of April 12 and resistance at 1.6372, last Friday’s high.
A lower-than-expected reading of U.K. inflation last week prompted investors to trim expectations that the BoE will raise rates from a record low 0.5% next month.
Earlier Monday, U.K. property website Rightmove said asking prices for houses in England and Wales edged 0.1% higher in April compared with a year earlier, although agents saw the biggest monthly rise in unsold properties in nearly four years.
Asking prices rose by 1.7% in April, a bigger increase than the 0.8% rise seen during the previous month, but estate agents recorded the biggest monthly increase in unsold stock since May 2007.
Meanwhile, the pound was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.36% to hit 0.8804.
Also Monday, a Greek daily newspaper reported that Greece told the International Monetary Fund and the European Union earlier this month that it wanted to restructure its debt, after receiving a bailout last May.
The report was subsequently denied by a finance ministry source in Athens.