The GBP gained strength in today's European session at the back of positive mortgage approvals data, MPC member Ian McCafferty's statement on the United Kingdom's (UK) interest rate, and the CBI Distributive Trades Survey for February.
The UK's mortgage approvals went up to 50.0K in January, from the previous 47.1K. Analysts' expectations were at 47.9K. Meanwhile, Mr McCafferty hinted at a hike in the UK's interest rate depending on the country's inflation data. Then there is the CBI Distributive Trades Survey, which came out way better than expected. From the previous 14, it's at 37 in February, with just an expectation at 15.
All these helped lift the GBP/USD pair in today's European session. It has so far peaked at the 1.7000 zone. The pair is currently trading at 1.6695, with initial resistance seen at 1.6716, followed by 1.6758. Meanwhile, initial support is at 1.6619, followed by 1.6578.
As for the USD/JPY pair, it managed to open the Asian session at a strong note, peaking at 102.62. It was unable to sustain the run, however, as it began to drop prior to the opening of the European session, bottoming at the sub-102.30 area twice so far. There is no clear indication of where the pair is heading at the moment due to the lack of significant reports from the US today. It is currently trading at 102.26, with initial resistance seen at 102.85, followed by 103.11. Meanwhile, initial support is at 102.31, followed by 102.05.
Then there is the AUD/USD pair, which see-sawed within the 0.9010-0.9040 range in today's trading session. As with the USD/JPY pair, there is no major driver in the AUD/USD right now. It is currently trading at 0.9029, with initial resistance seen at 0.9100, followed by 0.9123. Meanwhile, initial support is at 0.8986, followed by 0.8964.
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