Investing.com - The pound rose against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, easing off a four-and-a-half month low after the minutes of the Bank of England's latest policy meeting showed that two members voted in favor of a rate hike.
GBP/USD hit 1.6679 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6648, gaining 0.19%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6566, the low of April 7 and resistance at 1.6726, Tuesday's high.
In the minutes of its August meeting, the BoE said that two policy makers wanted an interest-rate increase this month, marking the first split in more than three years.
BoE board members Martin Weale and Ian McCafferty said economic circumstances "were sufficient to justify an immediate rise in bank rate."
The remaining seven members voted to keep the rate on hold, saying early tightening could leave the economy "vulnerable to shocks", according to the report.
The pound had dropped to four-and-a-half month lows against the dollar on Tuesday after a report showing that the annual rate of inflation in the U.K. slowed to 1.6% in July was seen as diminishing the likelihood that the BoE will raise rates this year.
Meanwhile, demand for the greenback remained supported after data on Wednesday showed that U.S. housing starts jumped 15.7% in July, while the number of new permits granted to home-builders also accelerated, pointing to underlying strength in the housing sector.
The data offset a report showing that U.S. consumer prices rose just 0.1% in July.
Sterling was also higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.38% to 0.7985.