Investing.com - The pound fell against the dollar on Wednesday after U.K. retail sales figures disappointed markets, while the greenback saw demand on expectations for U.S. economic recovery to continue gaining steam.
In U.S. trading on Wednesday, GBP/USD was trading at 1.6715, down 0.57%, up from a session low of 1.6698 and off a high of 1.6816.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6662, the low from April 15, and resistance at 1.6882, Tuesday's high.
The pound came under pressure after the Confederation of British Industry said its index of U.K. retailers dropped to 16.0 this month from 30.0 in April, defying expectations for a rise to 35.
The data came one day after a report by the British Bankers' Association showed that banks approved the lowest number of mortgages since August last month.
The data indicated that the U.K. housing market could be losing some momentum, although house prices remained strong.
The dollar, meanwhile, saw residual support stemming from Tuesday's upbeat U.S. consumer confidence, housing and wholesale pricing data, which served as a reminder that the economy continues to recover and is in less need of monetary stimulus measures.
The Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index rose to 83.0 this month from 81.7 in April, in line with market expectations.
Elsewhere, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller house price index rose 12.4% in March from a year earlier, beating forecasts for a gain of 11.8% and following a rise of 12.9% in February.
Healthy wholesale pricing data firmed the greenback as well.
The Commerce Department reported earlier U.S. durable goods orders rose 0.8% in April, confounding expectations for a 0.5% fall, after a 3.6% increase in March, whose figure was revised up from a previously estimated 2.9% rise.
Core durable goods orders, which are stripped of volatile transportation items, rose 0.1% last month, missing expectations for a 0.3% increase. Core durable goods orders in March were revised up to a 2.9% gain from a previously estimated 2.4% rise.
Elsewhere, sterling was down against the euro, with EUR/GBP up 0.28% at 0.8135, and down against the yen, with GBP/JPY down 0.78% at 170.09.
On Thursday, the U.S. is to release revised data on first-quarter GDP as well as the weekly government report on initial jobless claims and data on pending home sales.