Investing.com - The pound trimmed gains against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, after the release of mixed U.S. employment and factory orders data, although earlier U.K. economic reports still lent some support to sterling.
GBP/USD hit 1.6664 during U.S. morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6638, easing up 0.06%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6556, the low of March 27 and resistance at 1.6717, the high of March 13.
Payroll processing firm ADP reported that the U.S. private sector added 191,000 jobs last month, slightly below expectations for jobs growth of 195,000.
February’s figure was revised up to a gain of 178,000 from a previously reported increase of 139,000.
A separate report showed that U.S. factory orders increased by 1.6% in February, beating forecasts for a 1.2% gain. Factory orders for January were revised down to a 1% drop from a previously reported decline of 0.7%.
In the U.K., the Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply construction purchasing managers' index ticked down to 62.5 last month from 62.6 in February. Economists had expected the index to rise to 63.0 in March.
Reports of improving underlying demand and more favorable business conditions helped business optimism reach its highest level since January 2007, while firms hired staff at the fastest pace in four months.
Residential construction saw the fastest rate of expansion, rebounding after weather related disruptions in February.
Earlier Wednesday, U.K. mortgage lender Nationwide reported that growth in house prices slowed for the third straight month in March, despite recording their biggest annual increase in almost four years.
House prices rose 0.4% last month, the slowest pace of monthly growth since June 2013, slowing from an upwardly revised 0.7% increase in February.
On a year-over-year basis, house prices were 9.5% higher in March, after a 9.4% increase in the 12 months to February, the largest annual gain since May 2010.
Sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.23% to 0.8276.