Forex Pros – The pound was down against the broadly stronger U.S. dollar in thin holiday trade on Monday, after U.S. President Barack Obama confirmed that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been killed in Pakistan.
GBP/USD hit 1.6642 during European morning trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6688, shedding 0.15%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6623, Friday’s low and short-term resistance at 1.6745, last Thursday’s high and a 17-month high.
The dollar gained on the view that that bin Laden’s death could make the U.S. less subject to further terrorist attacks, but some analysts remained skeptical of whether it would reduce the security risks facing the U.S.
President Obama said late Sunday that bin Laden had been killed by U.S. forces during a gun battle at a compound outside Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. A Pakistani intelligence official described the raid as a “highly sensitive” joint intelligence operation.
The pound was also down against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.14% to hit 0.8871.
Later in the day, the Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King was to speak while the U.S. Institute for Supply Management was to publish its manufacturing PMI.
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