The British pound strengthened against the other major currencies in the early European session on Wednesday, as the minutes of the Bank of England’s latest monetary policy meeting showed that although the policymakers voted to keep interest rate unchanged, there were broadening support among them for a sooner rate hike.
The Monetary Policy Committee voted 9-0 to retain its key rate at a record low 0.50 percent and asset purchase programme at GBP 375 billion.
For all members, the policy decision this month was clear cut, the minutes said.
The minutes showed that the Greek crisis has pushed back intentions of a rate hike by some members.
Moreover, the Greek crisis has pushed back intentions of a rate hike by some members. “Absent that uncertainty, the decision between holding bank rate at its current level versus a small increase was becoming more finely balanced,” it noted.
Last week, BoE Governor Mark Carney hinted that the decision to raise interest rates from record lows would come around the end of 2015.
In Greece, the Hellenic parliament is preparing for another vote on the final bailout negotiations on Wednesday as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras seeks to close the third bailout deal that will offer up to EUR 86 billion debt, after Greece repaid money due to the International Monetary Fund and the .
The Greek government expects the final bailout deal by August 20, which is the deadline for a EUR 3.6 billion debt due to the ECB ahead of the EUR 1.5 billion due to in September.
In the Asian trading today, the pound held steady against its major rivals.
In the early European trading, the pound rose to a 5-day high of 1.5644 against the U.S. dollar, from an early low of 1.5546. If the pound extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around the 1.58 area.
Against the euro and the Swiss franc, the pound advanced to 0.6991 and 1.4985 from early lows of 0.7035 and 1.4876, respectively. On the upside, 0.68 against the euro and 1.53 against the franc are seen as the next resistance level for the pound.
Moving away from an early 8-day low of 192.89 against the yen, the pound climbed to 193.62. The pound may test resistance near the 196.00 area.
Looking ahead, U.S. house price index for May and existing home sales data for June are slated for release in the New York session.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com