RTTN:Pound Climbs Against Dollar, Yen As U.K. Jobless Claims Decline Unexpectedly
During early European deals on Wednesday, the pound strengthened against the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen following the release of country's jobless data, which unexpectedly fell in November.
U.K.'s claimant count dropped by 3,000 month-on-month to 1.58 million in November, the Office for National Statistics said today. Economists had forecast it to rise by 7,000.
At the same time, the claimant count rate held steady at 4.8 percent as widely expected for November.
During three months to October, there were 2.51 million unemployed people, down 128,000 on a year earlier. The jobless rate was 7.8 percent, down 0.5 on a year ago. The rate matched economists' expectations.
Investors also focus FOMC rate decision due later in the day. The Fed is expected to announce a new round of Treasury securities purchases to replace its "Operation Twist" program, which expires at the end of the year.
The pound hit 1.6149 per greenback, its highest level since November 1. On the upside, 1.62 is seen as the next target level for the pound. The pound-greenback pair closed yesterday's deals at 1.6117.Against the yen, the pound rallied to 133.88 for the first time since June 2011. This may be compared to Tuesday's New York session close of 133.00. The next resistance level for the pound-yen pair is seen at 135.00.
Core machine orders in Japan climbed a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent on month in October to 704.4 billion yen, the Cabinet Office said - rising for the first time in three months.
The headline figure was shy of forecasts for an increase of 3.0 percent following the 4.3 percent contraction in September and the 3.3 percent decline in August.
The U.S. import price index for November is the lone data to watch ahead of the much awaited FOMC decision in the New York session.
