GBP/USD pares losses after upbeat U.K. trade gap data

NEW YORK (Forex News Now) – The pound pared losses against the dollar on Tuesday, rising from a 1-week low, after official data showed that Britain’s trade deficit with the rest of the world shrank further than forecast in June.

In European morning currency trading, GBP/USD traded at 1.582, down 0.45 percent on the day, after rising from 1.5774, cable’s lowest since Aug. 2.

The Office for National Statistics said earlier that Britain’s goods trade deficit with the rest of the world declined to GBP 7.4 billion during the month, down from a revised GBP 8 billion in May. Global forex analysts had expected a more modest drop to GBP 7.8 billion in June, two major forex news outlets reported.

According to forex analysis, GBP/USD is likely to touch immediate support around Thursday’s low, 1.582, and encounter resistance around the high of Jan. 28, 1.6276.

FX traders, meanwhile, awaited the conclusion of a key policy-setting meeting by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee, amid mounting concern over the jobless U.S. economic recovery.

Elsewhere, sterling slumped versus the yen: GBP/JPY traded at 135.63, down 0.69 percent.