Investing.com - The pound edged higher against the dollar in subdued trade on Monday as the dollar remained under pressure after Friday’s U.S. jobs data disappointed some market expectations for a stronger number.
GBP/USD was last up 0.09% to 1.6590 and was trading in a range of 1.6566 and 1.6595.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6551, Friday’s low and a seven-day low and resistance at 1.6655.
The dollar remained on the back foot after the Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. economy added 192,000 jobs in March, below expectations for jobs growth of 200,000.
The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.7%, compared to expectations for a downtick to 6.6%.
The data undershot some expectations for a more robust reading but indicated that the Federal Reserve is likely to stick to the current pace of reductions to its asset purchase program.
Sterling’s gains were checked after reports last week showed that all three U.K. PMI surveys for March fell short of expectations, but still pointed to robust first quarter growth.
The pound dipped lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP edging up 0.08% to 0.8275.
The single currency found support as comments by European Central Bank officials eased concerns over the prospect of quantitative easing.
Earlier Monday, ECB policymaker Yves Mersch said that while the central bank was working on plans for large-scale asset purchases to drive up inflation, this program is not required yet.
Separately, Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann said that monetary policy cannot solve the financial crisis, and urged euro zone political leaders to keep reforming their economies.