GBP/USD on session highs after UK jobless claims

Sterling climbed to its highest against the US dollar on Wednesday, following the release of reports to show UK unemployment rate remained steady and jobless claims decreased.

GBP/USD rose to a session high at 1.5505 at 8:38 GMT, after which consolidation followed at 1.5467. Support was likely to be found at current session low, 1.5421, while resistance was to be met at August 8th high, 1.5557.

The Office of National Statistics reported earlier today that the Claimant Count Rate in the United Kingdom came in at 4.3% in July from 4.4% in June. Unemployment rate, according to standards by the International Labour Organization (ILO), remained unchanged at 7.8% during the three months to June in consonance with preliminary estimates.

Additionally, the number of people, who filed for unemployment assistance in the United Kingdom decreased at a significantly greater rate than anticipated in the month of July. Jobless claims dropped by 29 200, while initial estimates pointed a lesser decrease, by 15 000 in July. In June the number of claims was revised up to a greater drop, by 29 400 from a drop by 21 200 previously.

It also became clear that Bank of England (BoE) policymakers voted unanimously in favor of maintaining the benchmark interest rate steady at 0.5% and the monetary stimulus unchanged at 375 billion GBP, according to the published BoE minutes. However, the minutes revealed that the decision to provide forward guidance on future rate increases was not unanimous. The BoE set out three conditions under which forward guidance on interest rates would not apply. One of these conditions pointed that the central bank will consider a rate raise in case the intermediate-term inflationary expectations rise above the 2.5% level during the next 18 to 24 months.

Meanwhile, the pound was trading higher against the euro, as EUR/GBP cross dropped by 0.21% to 0.8568 at 9:45 GMT. Minutes ago it was reported that Euro zones GDP rose by 0.3% during the second quarter of the year, compared to the first one, marking its first increase in six quarters, when the common currency blog was experiencing recession. Experts had anticipated that euro zones economy will expand by 0.2%. During the first quarter of this year economy shrank by 0.3%, which was a revision down from a 0.2% drop previously. The GDP figure in the whole European Union also registered a 0.3% increase during the second three months of 2013, after the 0.1% dip in the preceding quarter.

Last but not least, GBP/JPY pair advanced 0.14% to trade at 151.96 at 9:45 GMT.