Investing.com - The pound slid lower against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, after data showing that U.K. manufacturing production fell more than expected in July dampened optimism over the strength of the economy.
GBP/USD hit 1.3378 during European morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3388, shedding 0.36%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.3292, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.3446, Tuesday’s high and a one-and-a-half month peak.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics said that manufacturing production decreased by 0.9% in July, worse than expectations for a decline of 0.4% and following a drop of 0.2% a month earlier that was revised from an initial 0.3% decline.
On an annualized basis, manufacturing production rose 0.8% in July, worse than forecasts for a 1.7% increase.
However, the report also showed that industrial production inched up by 0.1% in July, better than forecasts for a 0.2% decrease and following the 0.1% gain in the preceding month.
Year-on-year, industrial production increased 2.1% in July, above expectations for a 1.9% rise.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the greenback remained vulnerable after the Institute of Supply Management said on Tuesday that its non-manufacturing purchasing manager's index fell to 51.4 last month from 55.5 in July. Analysts had expected the index to drop to 55.0.
The data came after downbeat U.S. employment data published last Friday crushed expectations for an upcoming rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
Sterling was also lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.29% to 0.8399.