Investing.com - The pound rose to two-and-a-half week highs against the U.S. dollar on Friday, as Scotland voted to remain in the U.K. after an independence referendum, while demand for the greenback still remained broadly supported.
GBP/USD hit 1.6525 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since September 2; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6449, gaining 0.32%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6327, the low of September 4 and 10-month low and resistance at 1.6615, the high of September 2.
The pound strengthened as Scotland overwhelmingly rejected independence after a record turnout of voters delivered a clear victory for the No campaign on Thursday.
Uncertainty over what currency an independent Scotland would use, as well as concerns over how much of the U.K. national debt it would take on sparked a broad based selloff in sterling last week.
Meanwhile, demand for the dollar remained supported after Wednesday’s Federal Reserve statement reiterated that it expects rates to remain on hold for a "considerable time", after its bond purchasing program ends.
The Fed also cut its monthly asset purchase program by another $10 billion, keeping the program on track to finish next month.
Markets shrugged off data showing that the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index deteriorated to a three-month low this month, as well as a report showing that U.S. building permits dropped by 5.6% last month and that housing starts tumbled by 14.4%.
Sterling was also higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP retreating 0.43% to 0.7848.