FRX: GBP/USD pushes higher as Draghi comments, BoE support
Forexpros - The pound pushed higher against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, as encouraging comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi boosted market sentiment while the pound remained supported after the Bank of England left its monetary policy unchanged.
GBP/USD hit 1.6170 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's highest since October 2; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6157, rising climbing 0.50%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6067, Wednesday's low and resistance at 1.6209, the high of September 26.
Speaking at the ECB's post-policy meeting press conference, Draghi said the central bank was ready to undertake Outright Monetary Transactions when the prerequisites are in place and reiterated that the ECB was acting strictly within its mandate in undertaking a bond buying program via OMTs.
Draghi also said economic risks in the euro zone remain to the downside and added that economic indicators point to weak growth in the third quarter.
The ECB left rates on hold at a record low 0.75% earlier, in a widely anticipated decision.
Sentiment on the pound strengthened earlier, after the BoE left rates on hold at a record low 0.5% and left the size of its bond purchasing program unchanged at GBP375 billion, in line with market expectations.
The central bank will release the minutes of the meeting on October 17.
In the U.S., the Department of Labor said that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose to 367,000, compared to expectations for an increase of 7,000 to 370,000.
A separate report showed that U.S. factory orders fell slightly less-than-expected in August, declining by 5.2% after a 2.6% rise the previous month.
Elsewhere, sterling was lower against the euro with EUR/GBP adding 0.18%, to hit 0.8042.
Also Thursday, Spain saw borrowing costs fall at an auction of government debt, with the yield on five-year bonds dropping to 4.76% from 6.45% last month.
Later in the day, the Federal Reserve was to produce the minutes of its September policy meeting.
