Pound Falls After BoE's Carney Speech

The British pound weakened against other major currencies in the early European session on Tuesday, after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said now is not the time to raise the U.K. interest rates.

Speaking at the Mansion House in London, the BOE Chief Carney said, "now is not yet the time" to begin tightening monetary policy.

He also mentioned about the concerns over Brexit impact on the U.K. economy.

In the last Thursday's BOE Monetary Policy Committee meeting, three out of the eight members unexpectedly voted for an increase in rates.

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

In the European trading, the pound fell to a 1-week low of 1.2668 against the U.S. dollar, a 6-day low of 1.2346 against the Swiss franc and a 5-day low of 0.8804 against the euro, from early highs of 1.2758, 1.2443 and 0.8738, respectively. If the pound extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.25 against the greenback, 1.22 against the franc and 0.89 against the euro.

Against the yen, the pound dropped to 141.40 from an early near 2-week high of 142.54. The pound may test support near the 138.00 region.

Looking ahead, Canada wholesale sales data for April and U.S. current account data for the first quarter are due to be released in the New York session.

At 3:00 pm ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is expected to speak about the economy and monetary policy at the Commonwealth Club, in San Francisco.