Forex - GBP/USD holds steady amid Ukraine events, Yellen speech

The pound held steady against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, as concerns over the outcome of political turmoil in Ukraine continued to weigh on market sentiment, while investors followed comments by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen.

Cable was likely to find support at 1.6584, the low of February 24 and resistance at 1.6742, the high of February 18.GBP/USD hit 1.6617 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's lowest since February 24; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6658, easing 0.06%.

Market sentiment remained under pressure amid fresh political and military tensions between Russia and Ukraine after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted last week.

On Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered 150,000 Russian troops to begin military exercises in central and western Russia, near the border with Ukraine.

Political uncertainty in Ukraine sparked renewed concerns over the outlook for emerging markets, and pressured the Russian rouble to five year lows against the dollar. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s hryvnia fell to record lows after the central bank abandoned its policy of supporting the currency.

Meanwhile, in testimony to the Senate banking committee in Washington, Ms. Yellen said it was hard to say how much the recent soft data was due to weather and added that the bank would be attentive to signals on whether the recovery is progressing in line with expectations.

The comments came after the Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders declined by a seasonally adjusted 1% last month, compared to expectations for a 1.5% drop.

Core durable goods orders, excluding volatile transportation items, rose 1.1% in January, the largest increase since May, confounding forecasts for a 0.3% decline.

Separately, the Labor Department said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits rose by 14,000 to 348,000 from the previous week’s total of 334,000. Analysts had expected an increase of just 1,000.

Sterling was fractionally higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP inching up 0.01% to 0.8211.

Also Thursday, data confirmed that Spain’s economy grew 0.2% in the fourth quarter, below the initial estimate for 0.3% growth.

A separate report showed that lending to households and firms in the euro zone fell in for a second month in January.