Forexpros – The pound pared gains against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, pulling away from a two-week high as concerns over the outlook for global growth were underlined by weak data out of the euro zone.

GBP/USD retreated from 1.5727, the pair’s highest since July 31, to hit 1.5696 during European afternoon trade, just 0.09 higher on the day%.

Cable was likely to find support at 1.5604, the low of August 9 and near-term resistance at 1.5766, the high of July 27.

Earlier Tuesday, official data showed that the euro zone economy contracted by 0.2% in the three months to June, in line with expectations, bringing the annualized rate of contraction to 0.4%.

Germany’s economy expanded by 0.3% in the second quarter, slightly better than expectations for 0.2% growth, while France’s economy stagnated, beating expectations for a 0.1% contraction.

Meanwhile, the ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment came in at minus 25.5 for August, the lowest level of 2012, down from July’s reading of minus 19.6 and defying expectations for a reading of minus 19.3.

The pound rose to the session high against the greenback earlier, after official data showing that consumer inflation in the U.K. rose unexpectedly in July dampened expectations for near-term quantitative easing by the Bank of England.

The Office for National Statistics said the rate of consumer price inflation accelerated to a seasonally adjusted 2.6% in July from 2.4% the previous month. Analysts had expected CPI to ease slightly to 2.3%.

Month-over-month, consumer price inflation rose 0.1%, compared to expectations for a 0.1% decline, after falling 0.4% in June.

The pound trimmed losses against the euro, with EUR/GBP inching up 0.06% to 0.7866, down from the session high of 0.7885.

Later Tuesday, the U.S. was to publish official data on retail sales and producer price inflation.

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