BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The pound fell against its major counterparts in the New York session on Tuesday, as investors awaited key U.S. economic data, including Friday's non-farm payrolls report for August to gauge the size of the Federal Reserve's rate cut later this month.
Friday's U.S. jobs report is crucial as an apparently cooling labor market might reignite recession fears and fuel speculation of a 50-basis point rate cut in mid-September.
Economists expect employment to climb by 165,000 jobs in August after rising by 114,000 jobs in July.
The unemployment rate is expected to edge down to 4.2 percent in August from 4.3 percent in July.
Data from the British Retail Consortium showed that UK retail sales increased in August driven by food sales.
Total retail sales grew 1.0 percent year-on-year in August but slower than the 4.1 percent increase posted in the same period last year.
The pound dropped to 5-day lows of 190.32 against the yen and 1.1118 against the franc, off its early highs of 193.36 and 1.1209, respectively. The pound is likely to challenge support around 185.00 against the yen and 1.09 against the franc.
The pound declined to near a 2-week low of 1.3088 against the greenback and a 5-day low of 0.8434 against the euro, from an early high of 1.3148 and a 4-day high of 0.8406, respectively. The pound is seen finding support around 1.27 against the greenback and 0.86 against the euro.
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