Pound Jumps To 2-day High Against US Dollar
UK’s sterling rallied on Wednesday morning in Asia on the back of some encouraging economic reports from the region. The pound rose to a 2-day high against the dollar.
The pound thus recouped some of its previous sessions’ losses. Political jitters pulled the pound down to its lowest level in more than 9-month against the dollar on Monday.
Permanent staff placements in the United Kingdom rose at its fastest pace since June 2007 in February while temporary and contract hiring also increased, a report from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG showed today.
Demand for staff among UK firms strengthened in February, extending the current period of growth to five months. The pace of expansion accelerated again, reaching its fastest for just over two and a half years. Sharper increases in demand were recorded for both permanent and temporary staff.
At the same time, an index measuring consumer confidence in the United Kingdom surged in February, Nationwide said today, coming in with a score of 80. That was sharply higher than analyst expectations for a reading of 73 following the revised score of 74 in January.
Also, the British Retail Consortium said that shop prices climbed 1.7 percent on year in February after the 2.3 percent annual increase in January. Shop prices were up 0.6 percent on month, the data showed.
The pound advanced to 133.69 against the Japanese yen around 9:10 pm ET from 133.04 hit late New York Tuesday. The pound-yen pair is presently worth 133.51 with 133.8 seen as the next target level in near-term.
Against the Swiss franc, the British sterling soared to 1.6173 around 9:10 pm ET and this may be compared to yesterday’s close of 1.6096. If the pound strengthens further, resistance is likely to be seen around the 1.6230 level. Currently, the pound-franc pair is trading at 1.6161.
The UK currency that closed Tuesday’s North American session at 0.9096 against the European currency edged higher to 0.9052 by 9:25 pm ET. The euro-pound pair is presently worth 0.9060 with 0.9040 seen as the next likely target level.
From the euro-area, German and euro-zone retail sales data for January and the services PMI reports from the major European economies for February are expected in the upcoming session.
The pound climbed to a 2-day high of 1.5078 against the US dollar by 9:10 pm ET, up 0.7 percent from Tuesday’s New York session close of 1.4973. The cable is currently worth 1.5060 with 1.5380 seen as the next likely resistance level.
Across the Atlantic, the ADP National Employment report is scheduled to be released at 8:15 am ET. The private sector is expected to have lost 10,000 jobs in February.
The ISM is scheduled to release the results of its non-manufacturing survey at 10:00 am ET. The non-manufacturing index is likely to show a reading of 51 for February.
The Federal Reserve is due to release its Beige Book, which is a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions from each of the 12 Federal Reserve districts, at 2:00 pm ET.
