Forex - GBP/USD falls to 1-month lows, BoE statement on tap
Investing.com
Published Mar 05, 2015 05:04AM ET
Pound hits 1-month trough vs. dollar after U.K. data, BoE in focus
Investing.com - The pound fell to one-month lows against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, after downbeat U.K. house price data and as markets eyed the Bank of England's upcoming monetary policy statement due later in the day.
GBP/USD hit 1.5225 during European morning trade, the pair's lowest since February 12; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5241, edging down 0.16%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5161, the low of February 5 and resistance at 1.5372, Wednesday's high.
Industry data earlier showed that U.K. house prices declined by 0.3% last month, worse than expectations for a 0.2% drop. U.K. house prices increased 1.9% in January, downwardly revised from a previously reported gain of 2.0%.
U.K. house prices in the three months to February were 8.3% higher than in the same three months a year earlier, below forecasts for a gain of 8.5% gain and down from an increase of 8.5% in January.
The BoE was expected to leave its benchmark interest rate on hold at 0.5% and its asset purchase facility program at £375 billion.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained supported after data on Wednesday showed that U.S. service sector activity grew at a faster rate than expected in February, boosting expectations for higher interest rates.
Another report showed that the U.S. private sector added 212,000 jobs in February, falling short of expectations for an increase of 220,000.
Sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.21% to 0.7243.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the weekly report on initial jobless claims and data on factory orders.
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Written By: Investing.com
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