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Pound Lower Against Dollar As Euro Debt Fears Weigh
Written by article default Tuesday, 11 January 2011 13:21
The pound was lower against the dollar on Tuesday, as fears over the simmering sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone continued to weigh on market sentiment, lending support to the dollar.GBP/USD hit 1.5538 during European morning trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5542, shedding 0.19%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5473, Monday’s low and resistance at 1.5627, the high of January 5.
Earlier in the day, the British Retail Consortium said that U.K. retail sales fell in December for the first time since last April as heavy snow and concerns about the economic outlook deterred consumers over the Christmas shopping period.
The value of sales dipped 0.3% in December from a year earlier, after rising by 0.7% in November.
Also Tuesday, the British Chambers of Commerce said increased demand for British exports will not be enough to stop U.K. economic growth from declining in the fourth quarter of 2010 and the first three months of 2011.
The BCC reported strong manufacturing growth but weak performance from the much larger services sector in the last three months of 2010 in its quarterly economic survey.
The pound was also slightly lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP edging up 0.09% to hit 0.8322.
Later Tuesday, the U.S. was to publish official data on wholesale inventories, as well as a report on economic optimism.