The pound continued to be higher against its major rivals in European deals on Thursday, as the policymakers of the Bank of England were split in an 8-1 vote to keep rate unchanged at a record low, while signaling that the turmoil in China has not yet altered the central bank’s outlook of raising rate around early 2016.
At its meeting on September 9, the Monetary Policy Committee voted 8-1 to maintain interest rate at 0.50 percent as seen in the prior meeting held in August.
Ian McCafferty voted to increase rate by 25 basis points, given his view that building domestic cost pressures would otherwise be likely to lead to inflation overshooting the 2 percent target in the medium term.
Policymakers also unanimously voted to retain quantitative easing program at GBP 375 billion.
“Global developments do not as yet appear sufficient to alter materially the central outlook described in the August Report, but the greater downside risks to the global environment merit close monitoring for any impact on domestic economic activity,” the minutes showed.
The pound was trading in negative territory on Wednesday, as U.K. visible trade deficit widened for a second straight month to its biggest level in a year and industrial and manufacturing output dropped unexpectedly in July. The currency lost 0.18 percent against the greenback, 0.56 percent against the franc and 0.21 percent against the euro for the day.
The pound has been trading higher against its major rivals in the European session, as data from Halifax showed that the U.K. house prices logged its biggest monthly increase in 15 months in July.
In European trades, the pound appreciated to near a 2-week high of 1.5449 versus the dollar, up by 0.72 percent from a low of 1.5339 hit at 2:45 am ET. The pound is poised to find resistance around the 1.56 zone. At yesterday’s close, the pair was valued at 1.5366.
The pound, having fallen to a 2-day low of 184.23 against its Japanese counterpart at 9:15 pm ET, reversed direction and climbed to a 10-day high of 187.33. Further rally may take the pound to a resistance surrounding the 188.00 level. The pair ended Wednesday’s trading at 185.17.
The pound snapped back from its previous session’s slide against the Swiss franc, reaching as high as 1.5099. This is a 0.77 percent increase from yesterday’s closing value of 1.4984. The pound is seen finding resistance around the 1.52 level.
The pound was trading higher at 0.7243 against the euro, following a 2-day decline to 0.7320 in Asian trading. Extension of upward trading may lead the pound to a resistance around the 0.70 area. The euro-pound pair was valued at 0.7288 when it ended Wednesday’s deals.
Looking ahead, U.S. import price index for August, weekly jobless claims for the week ended September 5 and wholesale trade sales data for July are slated for release in the New York session.
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