Investing.com - The pound fell to more than one-week lows against the dollar on Wednesday, in spite of data showing that the U.K. manufacturing sector expanded at the fastest rate in eight months in March.
GBP/USD was last down 0.38% to 1.4758 from around 1.4822 earlier.
Research firm Markit said its manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 54.4 in March from 54.0 in February, boosted by strong domestic demand. Economists had forecast an increase to 54.3.
The report indicated that output in the U.K. manufacturing sector grew by 0.6% in the quarter of 2015 compared with the previous quarter, after 0.2% growth in the same period last year.
New export orders grew at the fastest rate since August after contracting in February, while input prices continued to decline, due to the recent sharp fall in oil prices the report said.
“The sector is on course for output growth ranging around 0.6% over the opening quarter as a whole, a positive contribution to broader economic expansion and its best performance since the first half of last year," Rob Dobson, senior economist at survey compiler Markit said.
Sterling remained under pressure as political uncertainty ahead of the U.K.'s May 7 election weighed.
The pound was also lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP up 0.42% to 0.7273 from 0.7242 earlier.
The euro was boosted after data showing manufacturing activity across the euro zone grew at the fastest pace since last May in March indicated that the recovery in the region is continuing to gain traction.
The Markit euro zone manufacturing PMI rose to a 10-month high of 52.2, higher than the preliminary reading of 51.9.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned as investors turned their attention to the latest U.S. jobs report, due out on Friday, which was expected to support expectations for higher interest rates.
The U.S. was to release the ADP report on private sector jobs growth later in the day.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, ticked up 0.11% to 98.81.