Investing.com - The pound edged lower against the dollar on Tuesday, but the greenback’s gains were held in check as investors remained cautious ahead of Wednesday’s outcome of the Federal Reserve’s monthly meeting.
GBP/USD slipped 0.13% to 1.6099, off Monday’s highs of 1.6146.
The greenback remained under pressure amid concerns that recent signs of a slowdown in growth in Europe and China could prompt the U.S. central bank to stick to its cautious outlook on monetary policy.
The Fed was likely to announce the conclusion of its asset purchasing stimulus program, known as quantitative easing on Wednesday, but was also expected to reassure markets that interest rates will remain on hold for some time to come.
The dollar slid against the other major currencies on Monday after data showed that the U.S. service sector expanded at the slowest rate in six months in October, as new order growth slowed and business confidence declined.
Research firm Markit said its U.S. services purchasing managers' index ticked down to 57.3 this month, from 58.9 in September.
A separate report showed that U.S. pending homes sales rose just 0.3% in September, falling short of expectations for a 0.5% gain.
Elsewhere, sterling was little changed against the euro, with EUR/GBP at 0.7881.