Forex Pros – The pound trimmed gains against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, but remained supported close to a 17-month high after the Federal Reserve indicated that it would not be tightening monetary policy for some time.
GBP/USD retreated from 1.6745, the pair’s highest since November 19, 2009, to hit 1.6680 during European morning trade, still up 0.33% on the day.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6434, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.6845, the high of November 19, 2009.
In his first ever post-policy meeting press conference on Wednesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the central bank, which left interest rates unchanged, “will complete” its USD600 billion bond-buying program by the end of June and hold short-term rates at a record low for an “extended period.”
But the pound was hit by a report showing that consumer confidence in the U.K. unexpectedly tumbled to its lowest level since February 2009 in April.
The GfK NOP consumer confidence index fell to -31 in April from -28 in March, defying expectations for an unchanged reading.
GfK director Nick Moon said the figures were “bad news for the government and bad news for the economy” after government data on Wednesday showed the economy had stagnated for the last six months.
Meanwhile, the pound was slightly lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP easing up 0.05% to hit 0.8895.
Later Thursday, the U.S. was to publish advance data on first quarter gross domestic product, as well as official data on initial jobless claims.
ForexPros.com
