Investing.com - The pound was almost unchanged against the U.S. dollar in quiet trade on Monday, as demand for the greenback remained supported by Friday's upbeat U.S. employment data.
GBP/USD hit 1.5221 during European morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5233.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5161, the low of February 2 and resistance at 1.5354, the high of February 6 and a one-month high.
The dollar remained supported after the Labor Department reported on Friday that the U.S. economy added 257,000 jobs in January, far more than the 234,000 forecast by economists. December’s figure was revised to 329,000 from a previously reported 252,000.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 5.7% last month from December’s 5.6% hourly earnings and the participation rate both saw increases in January.
The upbeat jobs report was seen as strong enough to indicate that the Federal Reserve will remain on track to start raising rates from near zero levels as early as June.
The pound had mildly weakened on Friday after the Office For National Statistics reported that the U.K. trade deficit widened to £10.15 billion in December from £9.28 billion in November. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to hit £9.10 billion in December.
Sterling was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.38% to 0.7450.
Sentiment on the single currency still remained vulnerable amid concerns over Greece after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Sunday that he would stick to plans to roll back austerity measures and reject an international bailout extension.
Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s downgraded Greece late Friday and warned that time is running out for Athens to reach an agreement on a new financing program with creditors.