Forex Pros – The pound rose to an 8-day high against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, as investors' risk appetite sharpened in the wake of upbeat European economic data.
GBP/USD hit 1.5178 during European morning trade, cable's highest since March 19; the pair subsequently consolidated around 1.5149, gaining 0.54%.
Cable was likely to find resistance at 1.5382, the high of March 17, and support at 1.4781, the low of March 1.
Earlier in the day, the European Union's statistics agency said its estimate for euro zone inflation climbed to 1.5% in March, higher than forecast. Meanwhile, official data showed that Germany's unemployment rate dropped unexpectedly to 8% in February.
Sterling also hit a 5-week high against the yen, with GBP/JPY trading at 141.7; the pair later retreated to 141.49, still rocketing up 1.22%.
Also Wednesday, the data processing firm ADP was set to publish a key report on U.S. nonfarm employment change, which comes ahead of the U.S. Labor Department's monthly employment report on Friday.