Pound Climbs Ahead Of Powell's Speech

The British pound strengthened against other major currencies in the European session on Thursday, as investors focus on speeches from central bank officials for clues on the path of interest rates.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will participate in a panel discussion at the Jacques Polak Annual Research Conference later in the day.

Powell didn't comment on monetary policy or the economic outlook at a conference on Wednesday.

Powell has largely maintained view that U.S. rates will remain higher for longer and is likely to push back against talk of rate cuts.

Weekly initial jobless claims data is due at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect jobless claims to edge up to 218,000 in the week ended November 4 from 217,000 in the prior week.

The pound rose to a 3-day high of 185.89 against the yen, from an early low of 185.25. The pound may locate resistance around the 187.00 level.

Against the U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc, the pound edged up to 1.2308 and 1.1078 from early lows of 1.2270 and 1.1042, respectively. The next possible resistance for the pound is seen near 1.24 against the greenback and 1.12 against the franc.

Moving away from an early 6-day low of 0.8772 against the euro, the pound advanced to 0.8693. On the upside, 0.85 is likely seen as the next resistance level.