Pound Falls Against Majors

The British pound weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Wednesday,despite the release of upbeat U.K. jobs data for December.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the U.K. unemployment rate came in at 4.8 percent, the lowest since September 2005 and matched economists' expectations. In three months to November, unemployment decreased by 52,000 from August to 1.6 million.

Average earnings including bonus increased 2.8 percent from previous year and earnings excluding bonus advanced 2.7 percent.

The claimant count held steady at 2.3 percent in December as economists had expected. The number of people claiming unemployment related benefits decreased by 10,100 from November.

Meanwhile, investors also digested the British Prime Minister Theresa May's statement that her country will leave the European single market when it quits the European Union.

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

In the early European trading, the pound fell to 1.2301 against the U.S. dollar and 139.37 against the yen, from early highs of 1.2417 and 139.99, respectively. If the pound extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support near 1.19 against the greenback and 132.00 against the yen.

Against the euro and the Swiss franc, the pound dropped to 0.8689 and 1.2331 from early highs of 0.8627 and 1.2436, respectively. The pound may test support near 0.90 against the euro and 1.19 against the franc.

Looking ahead, at 5:30 am ET, ECB Board Member Daniele Nouy will deliver a speech at WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Koblenz, Germany.

In the New York session, U.S. NAHB house price index for January, U.S. CPI for December and industrial production for December are slated for release.

At 9:00 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will participate in a panel before the University of Texas at Austin 2017 Business Forecast, in Dallas.

The Bank of Canada will announce its interest rate decision at 10:00 am ET. Economists expect the bank to retain interest rates unchanged at 0.50 percent.

At 11:00 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari is expected to speak about the economy at the Minneapolis Urban League, in Minneapolis.

At 11:15 am ET, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz and Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins will hold a press conference to discuss the contents of the monetary policy report, in Ottawa.

At 2:00 pm ET, Federal Reserve's Beige book report is set to be published.

At 3:00 pm ET, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will deliver a speech titled "The Goals of Monetary Policy and How We Pursue Them" at the Commonwealth Club, in San Francisco.