Investing.com - The pound trimmed gains against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, even after data showed that U.K. manufacturing production rose in line with expectations in June, as markets eyed the Bank of England's upcoming policy statement due later in the day.
GBP/USD pulled away from 1.5637, the session high, to hit 1.5602 during European morning trade, still up just 0.01%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5523, Wednesday's low and resistance at 1.5678, the high of July 31.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics reported on Thursday that manufacturing production increased by 0.2% in June, matching expectations and following a decline of 0.6% in May.
On an annualized basis, manufacturing production rose at rate of 0.5%, beating estimates for a gain of 0.4%, after rising at a rate of 1.0% in May.
The report also showed that U.K. industrial production fell by 0.4% in June, disappointing expectations for a gain of 0.1%, after increasing 0.3% in the preceding month.
Later Thursday, the BoE was expected to leave its benchmark interest rate on hold at 0.50% and its asset purchase facility program at £375 billion.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained under pressure after payroll processing firm ADP reported on Thursday that U.S. non-farm private employment rose 185,000 last month, below expectations for an increase of 215,000.
Investors were eyeing the upcoming U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday, which could reinforce expectations for higher interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
Sterling was fractionally higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP easing 0.09% to 0.6984.