Investing.com - The pound edged lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday, after the release of downbeat U.K. public sector borrowing data, while expectations for U.S. rate hike before the end of the year continued to support the greenback.
GBP/USD hit 1.2224 during European morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2234, down 0.16%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.2086, the low of October 11 and resistance at 1.2376, the high of October 11.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics reported on Friday that public sector net borrowing rose by £10.12 billion in September, compared to expectations for an increase of only £8.20 billion.
Public sector net borrowing rose £10.33 billion in August, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated gain of £10.05 billion.
Meanwhile, expectations for a 2016 U.S. rate hike continued to support demand for the greenback. New York Fed President William Dudley said on Wednesday that the U.S. central bank will likely raise interest rates later this year if the economy remains on its current trajectory.
Sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.24% to 0.8897.
The single currency remained under pressure after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Thursday that an adjustment to the bank’s stimulus program could come in December, saying its assessment would benefit from new economic projections to be drawn up by ECB forecasters.
The comments came after the ECB left interest rates unchanged at record lows of zero earlier Thursday and kept the deposit facility rate at -0.4%.