Pound Rises As European Shares Advance

(RTTNews) - The pound advanced against its most major counterparts in the European session on Thursday amid risk appetite, as the minutes of the Federal Reserve's July meeting showed that officials were willing to slow the pace of interest rate hikes at some point in its fight against inflation.

Fed minutes showed that participants judged that it would eventually become appropriate to slow the pace interest rate hikes in order to assess the impacts of higher rates on economic activity and inflation.

Expectations for a 75 basis point rate hike have reduced following the minutes, with traders seeing a greater possibility of 50 basis point move next month.

European shares rose, with the DAX up by 0.65 percent, the CAC 40 rising by 0.37 percent and the FTSE 100 climbing by 0.06 percent.

Oil prices rose, extending gains from the previous session, as data showed declines in crude and gasoline inventories in the U.S. in the week ended August 12.

The pound climbed to 1.2080 against the dollar, off an early more than 3-week low of 1.1994. The currency is likely to find resistance around the 1.22 level.

The pound rebounded to 1.1508 against the franc and 0.8425 against the euro, after falling to a 2-day low of 1.1437 and a 3-day low of 0.8466, respectively in early deals. The currency is seen finding resistance around 1.17 against the franc and 0.83 against the euro.

The pound advanced to 163.24 against the yen around 6 am ET, but it has since eased to 162.43. The pair had closed yesterday's deals at 162.65.

Looking ahead, U.S. existing home sales and leading index for July are due out in the New York session.