Dollar to pound sterling exchange rates: GBP/USD gains ahead of Bernanke appearance, EUR/USD seen flat

As such, the British pound sterling to US dollar exchange rate is 0.15 pct higher on a day-to-day basis at 1.6085. The euro dollar exchange rate is trading unchanged at 1.3504.

The Australian dollar to US dollar rate is 0.44 pct higher at 0.9419.

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As mentioned, US dollar exchange rates are geared for dovish rhetoric from Ben Bernanke in coming hours, "in practice we doubt that Bernanke will be too committal at this stage, and with the market essentially lined up in expectation of no tapering until March next year, a failure to rule out a December tapering may well be seen as USD positive," say Lloyds Bank Research ahead of the event.

However, in the run up to the speech tonight Lloyds warn the USD may slip a little further in line with the softer tone in US yields seen in the last few days.

In North America the calendar is quiet for the second day in a row but there is a flurry of Fed speak with both Dudley and Evans scheduled to make remarks later today.

"FX therefore may continue to consolidate around current levels as traders seek more clarity from the eco data later this week. For now 1.3500 in EUR/USD 1.6100 in cable and 0.9400 in Aussie appear to be equilibrium levels and the markets may continue to trade around those barriers for the rest of the day," says Boris Schlossberg at BK Asset Management.

Taking a more bearish approach to the euro dollar exchange rate is Gareth Berry at UBS:

"With the MACD still below its zero line, indicating a bearish trend, any further recovery will find strong resistance at 1.3564. While this holds, there’s scope for resumption of weakness to support at 1.3419 and then onto 1.3293," says Gareth Berry at UBS.

Concerning the pound to US dollar exchange rate Berry says he is neutral: "Initial support is at 1.6037, a break below this level would extend the weakness to 1.5967. Resistance is at 1.6149 ahead of the critical 1.6260."

Emmanuel Ng at OCBC Bank says he sees GBP/USD consolidating recent ranges: "GBP-USD may continue to consolidate in familiar ranges with resistance expected towards 1.6150 before 1.6200 while the 55-day
MA(1.6015) may also put a floor on any dips in the interim. We continue to retain a neutral stance for the pair although the EUR-GBP is also perceived to be still top heavy given the perceived slight divergence in policy postures of the ECB vs. the BOE."