Investing.com - The pound was almost unchanged against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, trading at two-and-a-half week lows despite better than expected U.K. construction data, as concerns over the Greek debt crisis continued to dampen market sentiment.
GBP/USD hit 1.5582 during European morning trade, the pair's lowest since June 16; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5610.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5539, the low of June 16 and resistance at 1.5736, Wednesday's high.
Research group Markit reported on Thursday that the U.K. construction purchasing managers' index rose to a four-month high of 58.1 this month from 55.9, beating expectations for a reading of 56.5.
But investors remained cautious after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday urged Greeks to reject an international bailout deal in a referendum due to be held on July 5, souring hopes of any breakthrough.
Less than 24 hours before, Tsipras had written a conciliatory letter to creditors asking for a new bailout that would accept many of their terms.
On Wednesday Greece became the first developed country to default on the International Monetary Fund after its second bailout program expired late Tuesday. The IMF confirmed that the Greek government failed to make a scheduled €1.6 billion loan repayment.
Sterling was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.24% to 0.7095.
Also Thursday, data showed that the number of unemployed people in Spain dropped by 94,700 last month, compared to expectations for a decline of 124,000. In May, the number of unemployed people fell by 118,000.