Pound Climbs As Fed Rate Hike Worries Reduce

The pound advanced against its most major counterparts in the European session on Thursday, as comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell eased worries about the pace of rate hikes in the coming months.

The Fed on Wednesday raised rates by 75 basis points and indicated that the central bank could slow the pace and size of future rate hikes depending upon the data.

Powell's remarks eased concerns about an acceleration in the Fed rate hikes in the future.

The odds of a 50 basis-point move at the September meeting rose to 70 percent following the Fed announcement.

The dollar fell following comments from Powell, helping lift commodity prices.

The pound was up by 0.1 percent against the greenback, touching a fresh 4-week high of 1.2191. The pound is seen finding resistance around the 1.24 level.

The GBP/CHF pair hit a 10-day high of 1.1695. If the pound rises further, 1.18 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

The pound firmed to its highest level since May 2 against the euro, at 0.8369. The currency is likely to locate resistance around the 0.82 level.

In contrast, the pound held steady against the yen, after having dropped to a 2-day low of 164.52 in the Asian session. The pair had closed yesterday's deals at 165.93.

Looking ahead, at 8:00 am ET, German preliminary CPI for July is scheduled for release.

U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended July 23 and advance GDP data for the second quarter will be out in the New York session.