Investing.com - The pound was steady close to five-week lows against the dollar on Tuesday after official data showed that the annual rate of inflation in the U.K. fell to the lowest level since October 2009 in February.
GBP/USD was last trading at 1.6494 and was moving in a rage of 1.6482 to 1.6509.
Cable was likely to find near-term support at 1.6464, Monday’s low and a five-week trough and resistance at 1.6550.
The Office for National Statistics said the annual rate of consumer price inflation slowed to 1.7% in February, in line with expectations, down from 1.9% in January.
January was the first time in more than four years that the U.K. inflation rate fell below the Bank of England’s 2% target.
Consumer prices rose 0.5% in February from a month earlier, in line with estimates.
Lower transport costs pushed the inflation rate down the ONS said, as petrol and other fuel prices fell. Smaller price increases for household gas and electricity bills than in the same month last year also eased price pressures.
Separately, the ONS said house prices across Britain rose 6.8% in the 12 months to January, up from 5.5% in December, the largest increase since August 2010.
Elsewhere, the pound pushed higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.17% to 0.8373.
Earlier Tuesday, a report showed that the German Ifo business confidence index dropped to 110.7 in March from 111.3 in February, the first decline in five months.
The expectations component of the index weakened as concerns over the impact of the Crimea crisis weighed, but the current assessment component continued to improve, rising to the highest level since April 2012.