GBPUSD Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, the GBP rose 1.01% against the USD and closed at 1.4599, following the release of a mixed UK jobs report.
Data showed that the number of people employed in Britain rose by 44.0K during the January-March 2016 period, following an increase of 20.0K in the December-February 2016 period. Meanwhile, the nation’s unemployment rate held steady at a decade-low level for the fifth consecutive month, in line with market expectations at 5.1%. Further, average weekly earnings including bonuses rose above expectations by 2.0% during the three months to March, up from 1.9% in the three months to February. Investors had expected it to rise by 1.7%. On the other hand, average earnings excluding bonuses advanced less- than-expected by 2.1% in the January-March 2016 period, compared to market expectations for a rise of 2.3%. In the December-February 2016 period, average earnings excluding bonus had recorded a rise of 2.2%.
In the Asian session, at GMT0300, the pair is trading at 1.4577, with the GBP trading 0.15% lower from yesterday’s close.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.4440, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.4303. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.4674, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.4771.
Going ahead, investors will look forward to the release of UK’s retail sales data for April, scheduled to release in a few hours.
The currency pair is trading above its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.