Investing.com - The pound slipped lower against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, despite an earlier report showing that manufacturing production in the U.K. rose for a third straight month in April, pushing the annual rate to a three year high.
GBP/USD hit 1.6759 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's lowest since June 5; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6767, shedding 0.21%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6699, the low of June 4 and resistance at 1.6845, the high of June 6.
The pound shrugged off an earlier report by the Office for National Statistics showing that U.K. manufacturing output rose 0.4% in April from a month earlier, as expected. On a year-over-year basis manufacturing production rose 4.4% ahead of forecasts for a 4% increase. It was the largest annual increase in output since early 2011.
Industrial production rose 0.4% in April, in line with forecasts, bringing the annual rate to 3.0%. Economists had expected an annual gain of 2.8%.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained supported after Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report showed that the U.S. economy added jobs for the fourth successive month in May, with employment returning to its pre-recession peak.
Sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP edging down 0.12% to 0.8079.
The euro remained under pressure after the European Central Bank on Thursday cut the main refinancing rate in the euro area to a record low 0.15% and imposed negative deposit rates on commercial lenders, in a bid to stimulate lending to businesses.
ECB President Mario Draghi also kept the option of quantitative easing on the table.