Pound for a minimum of two weeks in anticipation of the UK budget

On Wednesday, the pound is trading at two-week low against the dollar as investors await the submission of the annual budget of the UK, but the loss remains limited after the last employment report showed a rise of wages in the country.

The pair GBP / USD fell 0.36% to 1.4100 from around 1.4124 on the eve of the release of employment data.

The Office for National Statistics reported that the unemployment rate has remained the UK for the three months to January by 5.1%, as predicted markets.

The number of applications for unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 18,000 in February to 717,000.

Meanwhile, the average salary based bonuses increased seasonally adjusted at 2.1% for three months to January, breaking the prediction of growth by 2.0% after rising by 1.9% over three months to December.

Excluding bonuses, wages grew by 2.2%, higher than the expected growth of 2.1%, after rising 1.9% in the three months to December.

Sentiment on the pound remained fragile, because today is expected to present the annual budget of the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in Parliament.

The pound is under pressure from uncertainty regarding the results of the forthcoming referendum on the UK exit from the European Union.

The euro edged higher against the pound, with EUR / GBP gained 0.23% to 0.7868.

USD index, which tracks the greenback against a trade -weighted basket of six major rivals, rose by 0.22% to 96.87, as investors are now awaiting the outcome of the next policy meeting of the Federal Reserve System.

Most investors believe the Fed will keep interest rates at their current level by the end of the two-day meeting, given the recent signs of weakness in the world economy.

However, the US central bank is likely to signal that rates could be raised soon enough, as long as inflation and employment growth remain.

Currently, most economists expect the first rate hike this year in June, after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in almost a decade in December.

Rising interest rates make the dollar more attractive to investors looking for profits.