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Pound Rises Amid Risk Appetite

00:16, 20th February 2017

(RTTNews) - The British pound strengthened against the other major currencies in the early European session on Monday amid risk appetite, although trading volumes remained thin on a light day on the economic front and amid the Presidents Day holiday in the U.S. Meanwhile, investors fretted about the upcoming French elections.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is currently up 0.04 percent or 2.68 points at 7,302, France's CAC 40 index is up 0.18 percent or 8.88 points at 4,876 and Germany's DAX is up 0.55 percent or 64.63 points at 11,821.

A lack of clarity on the timing and scope of promised pro-growth policies from the Trump administration and the probability of a U.S. rate hike as early as March kept a lid on gains across the region.

The Federal Reserve will release the minutes of its last monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, with investors looking for further clues on Fed's assessment of the economic conditions and the timing of the next rate hike.

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

In the European trading, the pound rose to 4-day highs of 0.8512 against the euro and 1.2517 against the Swiss franc, from early lows of 0.8553 and 1.2429, respectively. If the pound extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.83 against the euro and 1.27 against the franc.

Against the U.S. dollar and the yen, the pound advanced to 1.2482 and 141.26 from early lows of 1.2404 and 140.01, respectively. The pound may test resistance around 1.26 against the greenback and 144.00 against the yen.

Looking ahead, Canada wholesales data for December and Eurozone consumer Confidence index are due to be released in the New York session.

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