Investing.com - The pound pushed lower against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, as investors locked in profits after sterling climbed to nine-month highs against the greenback on Wednesday, as concerns over the U.S. government shutdown persisted.
GBP/USD hit 1.6184 during European afternoon trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6197, slipping 0.23%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6128, the low of September 30 and resistance at 1.6260, the high of October 1 and the highest since early January.
The dollar remained under pressure as investors continued to weigh the implications of a protracted U.S. government shutdown.
President Barack Obama met with Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress on Wednesday, although a solution still seemed unlikely.
Markets were also considering how the political deadlock in Washington will impact negotiations to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, which the U.S. Treasury Department has estimated will be reached by October 17.
Moody's Investors Service warned that a failure to raise the debt limit would result in a worse outcome for financial markets than a government shutdown.
In the U.K., Markit research group said the services purchasing managers' index ticked down to 60.3 in September, from a reading of 60.5 the previous month, compared to expectations for a decline to 60.0.
A separate report showed that house price inflation in the U.K. rose 0.3% last month, confounding expectations for a 0.5% increase, after a downwardly revised 0.3% uptick in August.
Sterling was lower against the euro with EUR/GBP rising 0.33%, to hit 0.8397.
Also Thursday, official data showed that retail sales in the euro zone rose 0.7% in August, beating expectations for a 0.2% gain, after an upwardly revised 0.5% increase the previous month.
Separately, Markit said its final reading for the euro zone services PMI rose to 52.2 in September, from a reading of 52.1 in August. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged last month.
Germany's services PMI declined to 53.7 last month, from a reading of 54.4 in August, compared to expectations for the index to remain unchanged.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims along with data on factory orders. Meanwhile, the ISM was to produce a report on non-manufacturing activity.
GBP/USD hit 1.6184 during European afternoon trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6197, slipping 0.23%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6128, the low of September 30 and resistance at 1.6260, the high of October 1 and the highest since early January.
The dollar remained under pressure as investors continued to weigh the implications of a protracted U.S. government shutdown.
President Barack Obama met with Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress on Wednesday, although a solution still seemed unlikely.
Markets were also considering how the political deadlock in Washington will impact negotiations to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, which the U.S. Treasury Department has estimated will be reached by October 17.
Moody's Investors Service warned that a failure to raise the debt limit would result in a worse outcome for financial markets than a government shutdown.
In the U.K., Markit research group said the services purchasing managers' index ticked down to 60.3 in September, from a reading of 60.5 the previous month, compared to expectations for a decline to 60.0.
A separate report showed that house price inflation in the U.K. rose 0.3% last month, confounding expectations for a 0.5% increase, after a downwardly revised 0.3% uptick in August.
Sterling was lower against the euro with EUR/GBP rising 0.33%, to hit 0.8397.
Also Thursday, official data showed that retail sales in the euro zone rose 0.7% in August, beating expectations for a 0.2% gain, after an upwardly revised 0.5% increase the previous month.
Separately, Markit said its final reading for the euro zone services PMI rose to 52.2 in September, from a reading of 52.1 in August. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged last month.
Germany's services PMI declined to 53.7 last month, from a reading of 54.4 in August, compared to expectations for the index to remain unchanged.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims along with data on factory orders. Meanwhile, the ISM was to produce a report on non-manufacturing activity.