Investing.com - The pound remained lower against the U.S. dollar in quiet trade on Monday, but losses were expected to be limited as expectations for the Bank of England to raise interest rates before the end of the year continued to support.
GBP/USD hit 1.7108 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's lowest since July 3; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.7123, shedding 0.21%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.7096, the low of July 1 and resistance at 1.7180, the high of July 4 and a six-year high.
Sterling has strengthened broadly since the start of this year, gaining more than 15% against the dollar amid expectations that the deepening U.K. recovery will prompt the BoE to raise rates before the end of the year.
Business surveys last week indicated that the U.K. economy continued to grow at a strong pace in the second quarter, after the economy expanded at the fastest annual rate since 2007 in the first three months of 2014.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained supported after data late last week showed that the U.S. economy added 288,000 jobs last month, well above expectations for jobs growth of 212,000, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 6.1%, the lowest in almost six years.
The strong data sparked speculation that the Federal Reserve could bring forward its timetable for raising interest rates.
The pound was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.24% to 0.7941.
The euro remained under pressure after European Central Bank Vice President Benoit Coeure said Sunday that rates will remain on hold for an extended period to ensure monetary stability in the euro zone.
The ECB left all rates on hold at its meeting last Thursday, after cutting rates to record lows in June in a bid to stave off the threat of persistently low inflation in the region.
Data on Monday showed that German industrial output unexpectedly dropped 1.8% in May, fuelling concerns over the outlook for the broader euro zone economy.