Investing.com - The pound was little changed against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, after the release of upbeat U.K. service sector activity data, as investors remained cautious amid ongoing uncertainty over Greece's future in the euro zone.
GBP/USD hit 1.5192 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5162.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.4989, Tuesday's low and resistance at 1.5269, the high of January 15.
Data showed that the Markit/CIPS Services Purchasing Managers Index increased to 57.2 last month from a reading of 55.8 in December. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 56.3 in January.
Commenting on the report, Chris Williamson, Chief Economist at survey compilers Markit said, "The January PMI surveys signalled a reassuringly robust start to the year for the UK economy, indicating a quarterly rate of GDP growth just over 0.5%."
The report came one day after Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply said that their U.K. construction PMI increased to 59.1 last month from a reading of 57.6 in December. Economists had expected the index to dip to 57.0 in January.
Earlier in the week, Markit said that its U.K. manufacturing PMI rose to 53.0 last month from a reading of 52.5 in December. Analysts had expected the index to inch up to 52.6 in January.
But markets were still jittery after the Greek government outlined on Tuesday its plans to renegotiate the terms of its €140 billion bailout, retreating from election pledges to demand a debt write-down.
Sterling was also higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.26% to 0.7549.
Also Wednesday, Markit said that the euro zone services PMI rose to 52.7 last month from 52.3 in December, compared to expectations for the index to remain unchanged.
Germany's services PMI hit 54.0 in January, Markit reported, up from 52.7 the previous month and beating expectations for an unchanged reading.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a report on ADP nonfarm payrolls. In addition, the Institute of Supply Management was to produce data on non-manufacturing activity.