Investing.com - The pound edged lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday, as investors focused on the release of fresh U.S. economic reports later in the day, after a string of disappointing data on Thursday dented optimism over the strength of the nation's recovery.
GBP/USD hit 1.5405 during European morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5390, edging down 0.11%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5332, the low of February 23 and resistance at 1.5552, Thursday's high.
Sentiment on the dollar remained vulnerable after the U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits increased by 31,000 to 313,000 last week from the previous week’s revised total of 282,000.
Data also showed that U.S. consumer prices declined 0.7% last month, compared to estimates for a decline of 0.6%, while core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy costs, increased by 0.2% in January, above expectations for a 0.1% increase.
On a more positive note, the U.S. Commerce Department said that total durable goods orders increased by 2.8% last month, above expectations for a gain of 1.7%, while core durable goods orders, excluding volatile transportation items, inched up 0.3% in January, disappointing forecasts for a 0.5% gain.
The pound showed little reaction to data on Thursday showing that the U.K. gross domestic product expanded by 0.5% in the final three months of 2014, unchanged from an initial estimate and in line with expectations. The U.K.’s economy grew by 0.7% in the previous quarter.
Year-over-year, U.K. economic growth grew 2.7% in the three months to December, unchanged from a preliminary reading. The U.K. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 2.6% in the third quarter of 2014.
Sterling was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.33% to 0.7293.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release revised data on fourth quarter growth, as well as reports on pending home sales, business activity in the Chicago region and consumer sentiment.