Investing.com - The pound was almost unchanged against the U.S. dollar on Friday, trading near one-month lows as U.K. economic growth data came in in line with expectations, while Thursday's upbeat U.S. jobless claims data continued to support the greenback.
GBP/USD hit 1.6968 during European morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6973, dipping 0.06%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6924, the low of June 18 and resistance at 1.7053, Thursday's high.
Preliminary data showed that U.K. gross domestic product rose 0.8% in the second quarter, in line with market expectations.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained supported after data on Thursday showed that U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level in more than eight years last week.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending July 19 declined by 19,000 to 284,000, from the previous week’s total of 303,000.
The data fuelled speculation over the timing of a possible rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
Sterling was steady against the euro, with EUR/GBP easing 0.04% to 0.7923.
In the euro zone, the Ifo Institute for Economic Research said its German business climate index fell to a nine-month low of 108.0 this month, from a reading of 109.7 in June. Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 109.4 in July.
A separate report showed that the Gfk German consumer climate index rose to a seven-and-a-half year high of 9.0 this month, from a reading of 8.9 in June. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged in July.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on durable goods orders.