Investing.com - The pound rose to session highs against the dollar on Wednesday, but gains looked likely to remain limited ahead of a new opinion poll on the Scottish independence referendum due to be published later in the day.
GBP/USD touched highs of 1.6169 and was last up 0.33% to 1.6158. The pair fell to 10-month lows of 1.6053 earlier in the session.
Cable was likely to find support at around 1.6025 and resistance at the 1.6160 level.
Sterling was boosted after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney told MP’s that the point at which interest rates will need to rise has moved closer.
Speaking in front of Parliament’s Treasury committee Carney also said the BoE has a contingency plan to support financial stability in the U.K. if Scotland votes for independence.
Sterling fell to 10 month lows against the dollar earlier on Wednesday, amid jitters ahead of the results of a new poll on the Scottish independence referendum, due to be released at 10.30 pm BST.
The latest opinion poll published on Tuesday fuelled concerns over a possible yes vote ahead of the September 18 referendum.
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 have fuelled a selloff in the pound in recent sessions.
The dollar remained broadly stronger, boosted by heightened expectations for an early hike in U.S. interest rates. A study by the San Francisco Fed published on Monday indicated that central bank officials see rates rising earlier than markets expect.
The Fed was expected to cut its asset purchase program by another $10 billion at its upcoming policy meeting next week which would keep it on track for winding up the program in October, and to start raising interest rates sometime in mid-2015.
Elsewhere, the euro fell to session lows against the pound, with EUR/GBP down 0.40% to 0.8001, off the three month highs of 0.8066 struck earlier in the session.