Investing.com - The pound remained lower against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, as the minutes of the Bank of England’s June meeting continued to weigh on demand for sterling, while markets eyed the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy statement.
GBP/USD hit 1.6932 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's lowest since June 11; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6942, down 0.12%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6832, the low of May 9 and resistance at 1.7011, the high of June 16.
The minutes showed that the BoE’s monetary policy committee voted unanimously to leave interest rates on hold at their record low of 0.5% this month.
The minutes also showed that the bank was "somewhat surprised" that the financial markets were pricing in a low probability of interest rates rising this year.
Some MPC members believe the question of whether enough spare capacity has been absorbed has become "more balanced" since last month.
The committee was split over how much slack remains in the U.K. labor market, while weak growth in earnings and inflation continued to be a concern.
The MPC also discussed whether rates should start rising soon, if they will ultimately peak at a level well below their pre-crisis average.
The pound strengthened broadly in recent sessions after BoE Governor Mark Carney said late last week that rates could rise sooner than investors expect. The remarks prompted investors to bring forward expectations for a rate hike to the end of this year from the first quarter of 2015.
Meanwhile, investors were looking ahead to the Fed's post-policy meeting press conference with Chair Janet Yellen later Wednesday, as they awaited fresh indications on the timing of possible interest rate increases.
The Fed was expected to cut its asset purchase program by another $10 billion, but is not expected to raise borrowing costs until mid-2015.
Sterling was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.36% to 0.8014.