Investing.com - The pound traded steady to lower against the dollar on Monday after data revealed existing U.S. home sales beat expectations in May.
In U.S. trading on Monday, GBP/USD was trading down 0.01% at 1.7013, up from a session low of 1.7002 and off a high of 1.7049.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6924, Wednesday's low, and resistance at 1.7063, Thursday's high.
The National Association of Realtors reported earlier that existing home sales hit 4.89 million in May, up 4.9% from April's revised 4.66 million rate and above market calls for 4.73 million units, which sparked demand for the dollar.
Elsewhere, Markit Economics reported that its U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 57.5 in June from 56.4 in May, beating market calls for a 56.1 reading.
The pound, however, saw support from ongoing expectations that economic recovery in the U.K. will prompt the Bank of England to hike interest rates sooner than other central banks.
Last Wednesday’s minutes of the central bank’s June meeting showed that policymakers were "somewhat surprised" that the financial markets were pricing in a low probability of interest rates rising this year.
BoE Governor Mark Carney said earlier this month 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.
Elsewhere, sterling was up against the euro, with EUR/GBP down 0.06% at 0.7988, and down against the yen, with GBP/JPY down 0.18% at 173.40.
On Tuesday, the U.S. is to release private-sector data on consumer confidence as well as a report on new home sales.