Investing.com - The pound was little changed against the dollar on Tuesday after data showed 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 rose to an intra-day high of 1.6808 after the data, from 1.6791 before.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6750 and resistance at 1.6844, last Friday’s high.
The Office for National Statistics reported that 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%.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned 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.
Elsewhere, sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP down 0.25% to 0.8068, just above the one-and-a-half year low of 0.8063 reached late last week.
The ECB 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.
Elsewhere, the euro was also weaker against the dollar, with EUR/USD down 0.24% to 1.3559, not far from the four-month trough of 1.3502 reached last Thursday.