Investing.com - The pound edged up against the U.S. dollar in light trade on Monday, after disappointing U.S. home sales data but remained within close distance of a one-month low as Friday's upbeat durables goods report still lent support to the greenback.
GBP/USD hit 1.7001 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's highest since July 24; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6993, adding 0.10%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6924, the low of June 18 and resistance at 1.7053, the high of July 24.
In a report, the U.S. National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index declined by 1.1% last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.5% gain. Pending home sales in May rose by 6.1%.
The greenback had strengthened after the Commerce Department on Friday reported a rise of 0.7% in orders of long lasting goods such as machinery and electronic products in June, compared to forecasts of 0.5%.
Demand for the dollar also remained supported ahead of the latest U.S. employment report later in the week and the upcoming Federal Reserve statement on Wednesday. Investors were also awaiting final data on U.S. second-quarter growth on Wednesday.
The pound showed little reaction to data on Friday confirming that the U.K. economy grew 0.8% in the second quarter of 2014 and expanded by 3.1% on a year-over-year basis.
Sterling was steady against the euro, with EUR/GBP down 0.06% to 0.7908.