Investing.com - The pound slipped against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, re-approaching a five-week low after data showed that U.K. manufacturing and industrial production fell unexpectedly in January.
GBP/USD hit 1.5039 during European morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5046, shedding 0.16%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.4986, the low of February 3 and resistance at 1.5135, the high of March 9.
In a report, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said that manufacturing production declined 0.5% in January, disappointing expectations for an increase of 0.2% and following a 0.1% gain in December.
On an annualized basis, manufacturing production rose at rate of 1.9% in January, below expectations for a gain of 2.6%, after rising at a rate of 2.6% the previous month.
The report also showed that industrial production fell 0.1% in January, compared to expectations for a 0.2% gain, after declining 0.2% in December.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained supported after the latest U.S. jobs report heigthened expectations for higher interest rates.
The Federal Reserve is expected to begin raising interest rates around the middle of this year and investors were looking ahead to next week’s policy statement to see if it would drop its reference to being patient before raising rates.
Sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP declining 0.61% to 0.7057.
The single currency remained vulnerable after the European Central Bank began purchasing securities on Monday as part of an asset-buying program amounting to €60 billion a month.
Concerns over the situation in Greece also weighed, as the eurogroup of finance ministers continued talks in Brussels to discuss a reform package put forward by Greece as part of its bailout review.
Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned Tuesday that Greece must stop wasting time and start developing its reform package.