Investing.com - The pound held steady against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, trading within close distance of a 15-month low after data showed that the U.K. trade deficit narrowed less-than-expected in October.
GBP/USD hit session lows of 1.5560 during European morning trade, before consolidating at 1.5674.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5539, Monday's low and a 15-month low and resistance at 1.5744, the high of December 2.
In a report, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said the country's goods trade deficit narrowed to £9.62 billion in October from £10.51 billion the previous month. Economists had expected the goods trade deficit to narrow to £9.53 billion in October.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained supported after last week’s strong U.S. jobs report for November prompted investors to bring forward expectations for the first hike in interest rates to mid-2015 from September 2015.
Elsewhere, the Greek government surprised markets on Tuesday after deciding to bring forward a parliamentary vote for president to next week, a move which could trigger early elections if Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ candidate is not chosen.
Markets were also jittery after a Chinese government decision to set new restrictions on collateral for short-term loans. The decision fuelled fears that China’s economy is slowing at a faster rate than anticipated.
Sterling was fractionally lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP edging up 0.09% to 0.7902.
In the euro zone, official data earlier showed that French industrial production fell 0.8% in October, confounding expectations for a 0.2% rise, after a flat reading in September.