Investing.com - The pound trimmed gains against the dollar on Thursday, but remained supported above the 1.5100 level as comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke saw investors reassess expectations over the timing of a possible reduction to the bank’s easing program. GBP/USD pulled back from 1.5194, the pair’s highest since July 4, to hit 1.5119 during European afternoon trade, up 0.70% for the day. Cable was likely to find support at 1.4996, the session low and resistance at 1.5191, the session high. The dollar regained some ground as recent signs that the U.S. economy is improving supported expectations that the Fed will soon start to taper its asset purchase program. The greenback fell sharply against all the major currencies earlier Thursday after Bernanke said the Fed will continue to maintain accommodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future, citing low levels of inflation and the high unemployment rate. Bernanke said the bank will not raise interest rates until the U.S. unemployment rate hits 6.5%. The comments came after the minutes of the central bank’s June policy meeting showed that Fed policymakers remain divided over when to begin tapering its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program. Around half of Fed policymakers believe the bank should start to scale back bond purchases by the end of the year, while many others believe the labor market still remains too weak. The pound fell below the 1.50 against the dollar last Thursday after the Bank of England indicated that interest rates are likely to remain at record low levels, given weakness in the U.K.’s economic recovery. Elsewhere, sterling edged higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.11% to 0.8629. The U.S. was to release the weekly report on initial jobless claims later in the trading day.

Source