Forex - Pound steady vs. dollar in subdued trade

The pound was steady against the dollar in quiet trade on Tuesday as the greenback remained under pressure following Monday’s disappointing U.S. housing data.

GBP/USD hit 1.5381 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5364, inching up 0.04%.

Cable was likely to find support at 1.5256, Monday’s low and resistance at 1.5439, the high of June 26.

The dollar fell to almost one-month lows against sterling on Monday after data showing that existing home sales fell unexpectedly in June dampened expectations that the Federal Reserve will start scaling back its asset purchase program this year.

The National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales fell 1.2% to an annual rate of 5.08 million units in June, but still remained close to three-and-a-half year highs.

Trade remained subdued as volumes in foreign exchange markets were lower due to the summer holidays.

Sterling was little changed against the euro, with EUR/GBP edging up 0.035 to 0.8588.

The euro remained supported after Portugal’s Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said Monday the current government will remain in office after political leaders resolved a deadlock that had threatened to derail the country's EUR78 billion bailout program.