Pound Lower Amid Fed, Ukraine Concerns

The pound dropped against its major counterparts in the European session on Monday, weighed by concerns over a faster policy tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Hawkish comments from Fed officials last week intensified concerns over a more aggressive policy tightening to contain inflationary pressures.

In Ukraine, the siege of the southern port city of Mariupol continued as a Russian deadline to surrender has been rejected by the authorities.

Mariupol had almost completely been seized by Russian forces, while around 2,500 Ukrainian fighters remained at Azovstal steelworks, one of the largest metallurgical plants in Europe.

Russian forces launched missile strikes on Lviv and claimed that it had struck a total of 315 targets in Ukraine overnight.

The pound touched 4-day lows of 1.2271 against the franc and 0.8296 against the euro, off its previous highs of 1.2321 and 0.8266, respectively. The next possible support for the pound is seen around 1.20 against the franc and 0.84 versus the euro.

The pound weakened to a 5-day low of 1.3006 against the greenback, down from a high of 1.3064 hit at 6:45 pm ET. The pound is seen finding support around the 1.27 mark.

The pound fell to 164.64 against the yen, after rising to more than a 6-year high of 165.43 in the previous session. If the pound slides further, 161.00 is likely seen as its next support level.