Investing.com - The pound dropped to one-and-a-half month lows against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, as data released earlier in the session showing that growth in U.K. retail sales slowed this month continued to dampen demand for sterling.
GBP/USD hit 1.6718 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's lowest since April 15; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6709, retreating 0.60%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6662, the low of April 15 and resistance at 1.6816, the session high.
The pound weakened against the dollar after the Confederation of British Industry said the result of its index of U.K. retailers dropped to 16.0 this month from 30.0 in April.
The data came one day after a report by the British Bankers' Association showed that banks approved the lowest number of mortgages since August last month.
The data indicated that the U.K. housing market could be losing some momentum, although house prices remained strong.
Meanwhile, demand for the dollar remained supported after data on Tuesday showed that U.S. durable goods orders rose unexpectedly in April and another report showed that U.S. consumer confidence improved in line with forecasts this month.
Sterling was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.32% to 0.8138.
In the euro zone, data showed that the number of people unemployed in Germany rose by the largest amount in five years in May. The seasonally adjusted jobless total rose by 24,000 this month to 2.905 million, compared to expectations for a fall of 15,000.