Investing.com - The pound edged higher against the dollar in thin trade on Monday as speculation over the timing of possible tapering by the Federal Reserve continued to dominate market sentiment. GBP/USD hit 1.5647 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5637, edging up 0.10%. Cable was likely to find support at 1.5606, Friday’s low and near-term resistance at 1.5655, Friday’s high and a two-month high. Investors were looking ahead to the minutes of the Fed’s July meeting, due out on Wednesday, for further indications as to when the central bank may start to unwind its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program. Expectations that the Fed may begin tapering as soon as September were boosted late last week after data showed that U.S. weekly jobless claims fell to an almost six year low. Demand for sterling continued to be underpinned after data last week showed that U.K. jobless claims fell more than expected in July, while retail sales rose more than expected, boosting the outlook for the economic recovery. The pound also pushed higher against the euro and the yen, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.12% to 0.8520 and GBP/JPY easing up 0.10% to 152.63. Japan posted a larger-than-expected trade deficit of JPY1.024 trillion in July, official data on Monday showed. Exports rose 12.2% on a year-over-year basis, boosted by the weaker yen, while imports climbed 19.6%.

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