British pound advanced further against the US dollar on Friday, trading close to 2.5-week highs, ignoring the earlier released report on Public Sector Net Borrowing, as demand for the greenback was still pressured by recent comments by FED Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday.
GBP/USD reached a session high at 1.5281 at 11:12 GMT, the highest point since July 3rd, after which consolidation followed at 1.5264, still up by 0.23% for the day. Support was likely to be received at July 18th low, 1.5158, while resistance was to be encountered at July 3rd high, 1.5304.
Earlier on Friday it became clear that Public Sector Net Borrowing (PSNB) in the United Kingdom recorded a larger deficit in June than projected, 10.2 billion GBP, compared to 9.4 billion GBP, while data in May was revised down to a 12.8 billion GBP deficit from 10.5 billion GBP previously. Additionally, Public Sector Net Cash Requirement (PSNCR) indicator increased slightly in June to 3.1 billion GBP from 3.0 billion GBP a month ago.
Meanwhile, in his second day of testimony on monetary policy before the Financial Services Committee in US Congress, FED Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated that monetary policy will remain accommodative in the foreseeable future, even as the central bank begins to scale back its asset purchasing program. On Wednesday Bernanke said the central bank expected to begin tapering asset purchases by the end of the year, but also added that monetary policy was not on a “preset course”.
Elsewhere, the pound was trading steadily against the euro, as EUR/GBP cross ticked up a mere 0.01% to 0.8613 at 14:45 GMT.
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