For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, the GBP rose 0.4% against the USD and closed at 1.2967, after the latest ILO jobs report highlighted continued strength in the UK labour market.
Britain’s ILO unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 4.6% in the first three months of 2017, marking its lowest level in 42 years, as the number of people employed surged to a record high. Markets expected the ILO unemployment rate to remain steady at 4.7%, recorded in the December-February 2017 period.
However, the nation’s average earnings excluding bonus rose 2.1% in the January-March 2017 period, rising at its weakest pace since July 2016, thus indicating that household budgets would certainly be squeezed further in the coming months as wages are not keeping up with inflation. The average earnings excluding bonus had advanced 2.2% in the December-February 2017 period.
In the Asian session, at GMT0300, the pair is trading at 1.2964, with the GBP trading a tad lower against the USD from yesterday’s close.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.2915, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.2865. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.3002, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.3039.
Moving ahead, investors will look forward to UK’s retail sales data for April, set to be released in a few hours.
The currency pair is showing convergence with its 20 Hr moving average and trading above its 50 Hr moving average.
