Investing.com - The pound was little changed against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, hovering close to a three-and-a-half week high after data showed that U.K. retail sales rose in line with expectations in August, as investors were cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy statement.
GBP/USD hit 1.5526 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequntly consolidated at 1.5495.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5326, Wednesday's low and resistance at 1.5720, the high of August 26.
The Office for National Statistics said U.K. retail sales increased by 0.2% last month, in line with forecasts.
Retail sales were up 3.7% from the same month a year earlier, slightly short of expectations for a 3.8% increase.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, rose 0.1% last month and were up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious amid uncertainty over whether the Fed would hike short term interest rates for the first time in almost a decade on Thursday.
An increase in interest rates would boost the greenback by making it more attractive to yield-seeking investors.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said that an interest rate increase is data dependent but has also indicated that she expects to begin raising rates before the end of the year.
Data on Wednesday showed that U.S. inflation unexpectedly fell for the first time in seven months in August, tempering expectations for a rate hike.
Sterling was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP edging up 0.21% to 0.7304.