Pound Rises As BoE Ramsden Downplays Prospect Of Negative Rate

The pound was higher against its major counterparts in the European session on Monday, as a Bank of England policymaker talked down the likelihood of imminent negative interest rates and investors await Brexit trade talks scheduled to resume this week.

In a speech, BoE Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden said that the slowdown in the economic activity was less severe than initially expected in May.

The central bank expects GDP to recover steadily, although there are real uncertainties and risks.

Strong data from China helped offset rising tensions between Beijing and Washington.

Data from National Bureau of Statistics showed that China's industrial profits grew for the fourth straight month in August.

The pound advanced to near 3-week highs of 1.1944 against the franc and 0.9043 against the euro, off its early lows of 1.1840 and 0.9119, respectively. The pound is likely to find resistance around 1.21 against the franc and 0.88 against the euro.

The pound climbed to a 10-day high of 135.83 against the yen and a 1-week high of 1.2892 against the dollar, from its early lows of 134.36 and 1.2751, respectively. If the pound rises further, 138 and 1.31are possibly seen as its next resistance levels against the yen and the dollar, respectively.