(MENAFN– ecpulse)
With U.S. markets closed for the Martin Luther King Day holiday, and a slow start to the week concerning European data, trading today are expected to remain thin among currencies markets.
Sterling pound appreciated on Monday to hit a one-week high following the publication of the nation’s latest house price index report which showed that prices rose at the strongest annual pace since before the credit crunch in 2008, while the monthly gain was the strongest for any January since records began.
Key events are due later this week, with the main focus of the week is on Wednesday’s employment numbers as well as the release of the Bank of England monetary policy committee minutes for its Jan. 10 meeting.
The UK unemployment rate expected to fall to 7.2 percent, bringing it into touching distance of Mark Carney’s forward guidance threshold of 7.0 percent for a possible rate hike.
The GBPUSD pair rose 0.09 percent to around 1.64367 after opening at 1.64151. The pair so far hit a session high of 1.64513 and a session low of 1.63949.
The Australian dollar got some relief on Monday, edging up against the U.S. dollar, after the latest Chinese growth data slightly exceeded forecasts but remained slower than third-quarter growth.
China`s annual economic growth in the final quarter of 2013 came in at 7.7 percent, ahead of expectations for growth of 7.6 percent, yet down from 7.8 percent in the previous three months. While industrial production grew an annual 9.7 percent, below estimates.
The Aussie edged up 0.34 percent on the day to $0.88087 after earlier falling to $0.87561, its lowest level in about three and a half years, in the wake of weak jobs data released last week.
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