Forexpros – The pound was almost unchanged against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, after the Bank of England kept interest rates unchanged, ahead of a widely expected rate cut by European Central Bank later in the day.
GBP/USD hit 1.5717 during European early afternoon trade, an intra-day high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5712, inching up 0.01%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5594, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.5754, the high of December 1.
The BoE kept interest rates steady at a record low 0.5%, where they have been since March 2009 and announced no change to its asset purchase program, which it increased to GBP275 billion in October.
The ECB was expected to announce a 0.25% interest rate cut after its policy-setting meeting later in the afternoon, bringing the rate to a record low 1% in a bid to bolster faltering growth in the euro zone.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious amid uncertainty over the outcome of a critical European Union summit aimed at reaching a breakthrough on an agreement to arrest the spread of the debt crisis in the euro zone.
European leaders were to discuss proposed changes to EU treaties which would allow for greater fiscal integration and stricter enforcement of budgetary discipline in the single currency bloc, clearing the way for the ECB to play a bigger role in stabilizing euro zone bond markets.
Elsewhere, the pound was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.19% to hit 0.8518.
Also Thursday, the U.S. was to release official data on initial jobless claims.
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