Pound Rises As European Equities Rebound After Long Weekend

Pound Rises As European Equities Rebound After Long Weekend

The British pound strengthened against the other major currencies in the European session on Tuesday, as investors return to trading following a long holiday weekend and await remarks from Fed Chair Janet Yellen on the U.S. interest rate outlook.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is currently up 0.30 percent or 18.25 points at 6,124, France's CAC 40 index is up 0.82 percent or 35.42 points at 4,365 and Germany's DAX is up 0.67 percent or 66.47 points at 9,917.

Yellen is due to speak to the Economic Club of New York later today, with investors waiting to see whether she will echo the slightly hawkish tone emanating from her colleagues. The focus will also be on New York Fed President William Dudley's speech and U.S. economic reports on home prices and consumer confidence.

In the Asian trading today, the pound held steady against its major rivals.

In the European trading, the pound rose to nearly a 2-week high of 162.28 against the yen and a 1-week high of 0.7839 against the euro, from early lows of 161.34 and 0.7872, respectively. If the pound extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 166.00 against the yen and 0.77 against the euro.

Against the U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc, the pound edged up to 1.4264 and 1.3903 from early lows of 1.4195 and 1.3842, respectively. The pound may test resistance near 1.45 against the greenback and 1.42 against the franc.

Looking ahead, Canada industrial product and raw materials price indexes for February, U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for January and U.S. consumer confidence index for March are due to be released in the New York session.

At 11:30 am ET, Yellen will deliver a speech titled "Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy" at the Economic Club of New York luncheon. Dudley will also deliver a speech at the event.

The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com