Investing.com - The pound held steady against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, hovering close to an eight-month trough as trading volumes became increasingly thin ahead of the New Year holiday.
Heading into the final trading session of the year, volumes are expected to remain light as many traders already closed books, reducing liquidity in the market which could result in exaggerated moves.
U.K. markets were set to close early at 12:30 PM London time for New Year’s Eve.
GBP/USD hit 1.4845 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4825.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.4786, the low of December 29 and resistance at 1.4914, the high of December 29.
Markets shrugged off a report released on Wednesday by the U.S. National Association of Realtors showing that its pending home sales index inched down 0.9% last month, disappointing expectations for a gain of 0.5%.
Pending home sales in October rose by 0.4%, whose figure was revised from a previously reported gain of 0.2%.
The dollar had strengthened broadly after the Conference Board reported on Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 96.5 in December from 92.6 in November.
Investors were eyeing the release of the weekly U.S. jobless claims report, as well as data on manufacturing activity in the Chicago area due later in the day.
Sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.13% to 0.7369.