(Reuters) - Sterling held near a three-week high on Tuesday against the dollar after Mark Carney's surprise appointment as the UK's central bank governor, but could dip if gross domestic product figures are below forecasts. The unexpected appointment on Monday of the former Canadian central banker, who is seen as potentially more hawkish than his predecessor and less likely to ease policy, to take the Bank of England's top job helped boost the pound. Investors will look to revised third quarter GDP figures released at 0930 GMT. They are expected to confirm strong growth of 1 percent helped by the Olympic games. But analysts said there was a risk of a downward revision which could hurt the pound. Sterling was steady at $1.6018, having hit a three-week high of $1.6053 on Monday, its strongest level since November 2. Chart resistance stood at the 55-day moving average of $1.6063. "We will wait to see what the UK Q3 revision figure is - we see some room for disappointment given recent data in the UK," said Melinda Burgess currency strategist at RBS Global Banking. "The appointment of Carney was a surprise to the market but we don't think it will have an immediate impact on monetary policy, but it does bring a new mix into the Monetary Policy Committee, but not until next year." But the pound was lower against the euro and dropped to a one-month low in overnight trade. The euro was up 0.1 percent at 80.97 pence, helped after a deal on a new debt target for Greece, having earlier risen to 81.145 pence. International lenders agreed on a deal to cut Greek debt to 124 percent of gross domestic product by 2020, and pledged take further steps to lower the debt below 110 percent of GDP in 2022, boosting the euro. RBS' Burgess said the Greek deal should help keep the euro firm against the pound. Against the Canadian dollar, the pound was at C$1.5905, off a two-week high of C$1.5952 reached on Monday after the BoE announcement of Carney's appointment.

Source