COZfx: Pound advanced after strong US data

[kiriss5678]

COZforex: The pound erased gains against the US dollar on Thursday, pulling away from session highs after the release of upbeat US economic reports sent the greenback broadly higher.

GBP/USD pulled away from 1.5591 amid US morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5531, slipping 0.16%. COZ senior foreign exchange risk investment trader Desmond Doyle said, GBP/USD is predicted to find support at 1.5513, and a drop through could take it to the next support line of 1.5478. Meanwhile, the pair is predicted to find its first resistance at 1.5596, and a rose through could take it to the next resistance line of 1.5644.

The US Department of Labor said that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the US last week declined by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 324,000, the lowest level since January 2008. Separate reports showed that the US trade deficit narrowed more-than-expected in January, while US non-farm productivity rise less-than-expected in the first quarter.

Market players were looking ahead to Friday’s highly-anticipated US monthly jobs report to further asses the strength of the country’s economy and the need for further stimulus from the Federal Reserve.

Sterling found support earlier, after Markit said the U.K. construction purchasing managers' index rose to 49.4 from 47.2 in March, better than expectations for a reading of 48.0.

The euro came under broad selling pressure after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the ECB has an “open mind” on a negative deposit rate for banks. The deposit rate is the rate paid by the ECB on overnight deposits by euro zone banks.

The ECB left its deposit rate unchanged at zero at its policy meeting earlier. The ECB cut the benchmark interest rate to 0.5% from 0.75%, amid mounting concerns over the outlook for the region’s economy.

COZ forex UK