For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, the GBP rose 0.5% against the USD and closed at 1.2730, after UK’s Markit services PMI unexpectedly jumped to a level of 55.2 in November, expanding at the fastest pace in ten-months, indicating that the nation’s services sector is gaining solid momentum. Meanwhile, market expectations was for the services PMI to fall to a level of 54.0, after recording a level of 54.5 in the prior month.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 1.2742, with the GBP trading 0.09% higher against the USD from yesterday’s close.
Overnight data revealed that the nation’s BRC retail sales across all sectors advanced 0.6% YoY in November, compared to a gain of 1.7% in the prior month and falling short of market consensus for it to record an unchanged reading.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.2689, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.2636. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.2772, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.2802.
Amid a lack of major economic releases further in the day, investors would look forward to global events for further direction.
The currency pair is trading above its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.