Investing.com - The pound inched up against the dollar on Tuesday as the Russian crisis in Ukraine appeared to ease and enticed investors out of safe-haven greenback and yen positions to take on risk, though soft U.K. construction data capped the pair's gains.
In U.S. trading on Monday, GBP/USD was trading at 1.6669, up 0.03%, up from a session low of 1.6641 and off a high of 1.6717.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6617, Thursday's low, and resistance at 1.6751, Monday's high.
Market sentiment improved after Russian President Putin said Moscow reserved the right to use force in Ukraine’s Crimea region in the event of “lawlessness” but added that such a move would be a last resort.
Markets built on earlier gains that came after the Russian defense minister ordered troops engaged in military exercises close to Ukraine’s borders to return to their bases, which sparked demand for higher-yielding currencies that came at the greenback's expense.
Still, the safe-haven dollar saw some support against its U.K. counterpart, as Russian forces still maintain military presence in Crimea.
Concerns that the standoff may result in sanctions slapped on Russia and hamper global economic recovery also edged the dollar over the pound.
Soft U.K. data also capped the sterling's gains.
Markit Economics reported earlier that its U.K. construction purchasing managers' index fell to 62.6 in February from 64.6 in January, the highest level since August 2007. Analysts had expected the index to fall to 63.0 last month
Sterling was flat against the euro, with EUR/GBP down 0.01% at 0.8242, and up against the yen, with GBP/JPY up 0.71% as 170.26.
On Wednesday, the U.S. is to release the ADP report on private-sector job creation, which leads the government’s nonfarm payrolls report by two days. Meanwhile, the ISM is to publish a report service-sector activity.
The U.K. is to produce data on service-sector activity, a leading indicator of economic health.