Investing.com - The pound was little changed against the U.S. dollar on Friday, after the release of downbeat U.S. economic reports, as investors remained focused on developments in Ukraine.
GBP/USD hit 1.6587 during European morning trade, the pair's lowest since Wednesday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6614, inching down 0.06%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6526, the low of January 29 and resistance at 1.6717, Thursday's high.
In a preliminary report, the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index fell to 79.9 this month, from a reading of 81.6 in February, confounding expectations for a rise to 82.0.
The report came after official data showed that U.S. producer price inflation fell 0.1% in February, confounding expectations for a 0.2% rise, after a 0.2% increase the previous month.
Core producer price inflation, which excludes food, energy and trade, slipped 0.2% last month, compared to expectations for a 0.1% rise, after a 0.2% gain in January.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious after Russia launched new military exercises near its border with Ukraine on Thursday, showing no sign of backing down on plans to annex Crimea.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said serious steps would be imposed by the U.S. and Europe if the referendum on Crimea joining Russia takes place on Sunday as planned.
Kerry was set to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Friday in a last attempt to defuse tension between Moscow and the West.
In the U.K., official data earlier showed that the trade deficit widened to £9.79 billion in January, from £7.66 billion in December, whose figure was revised up from a previously estimated deficit of £7.7 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to £8.60 billion in February.
Sterling was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP gaining 0.40% to 0.8377.