Investing.com - The pound was trading at one-and-a-half week lows against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, even after data showed that the U.K. economy grew more than initially expected in the fourth quarter of 2014, as demand for the greenback remained broadly supported.
GBP/USD hit 1.4755 during European morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4765, down 0.27%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.4685, the low of March 19 and resistance at 1.4903, Monday's high.
In a report, the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product expanded at a rate of 0.6% in the final three months of 2014, up from a previous estimate of 0.5% and above expectations for a 0.5% reading.
Annualized GDP grew at a rate of 3.0% in the fourth quarter, up from an initial forecast of 2.8% and beating expectations for a 2.7% increase.
Data also showed that the U.K. current account deficit narrowed to £25.3 billion in the last quarter from £27.7 billion in the third quarter of 2014, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of £27.0 billion.
Analysts had expected the current account deficit to narrow to £21.5 billion in the three months to December.
The dollar remained supported as investors looked ahead to Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for further indications on the path of monetary policy.
The greenback has been boosted this year by expectations for higher interest rates, but its rally paused after the Federal Reserve statement released on March 18 indicated that it may hike rates more gradually than markets had expected.
Late last week Fed Chair Janet Yellen said a rate hike may be warranted later this year, but added that weakening inflation pressures could force the Fed to delay. The Fed head said policy tightening could "speed up, slow down, pause, or even reverse course" depending on how the economy is performing.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.63% to 98.93.
Elsewhere, sterling higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP declining 0.60% to 0.7272.
Sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable amid concerns over whether Greece can reach a compromise with its creditors in time to unlock more bailout funds before it runs out of cash in three weeks, as negotiations over economic reforms dragged on.
The U.S. was to release data on consumer confidence later in the day.