Investing.com - The pound slid lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday, despite the release of positive data from the U.K., as Thursday’s upbeat U.S. economic reports continued to lend support to the greenback.
GBP/USD hit 1.3112 during European morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3115, declining 0.43%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.2976, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.3449, the high of August 4.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics said that public sector net borrowing declined by £1.47 billion in July, compared to expectations for a £1.20 billion fall.
Public sector net borrowing increased by £7.51 billion in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated £7.31 billion gain.
But the dollar remained supported after data on Thursday showed that initial jobless claims decreased by 4,000 to 262,000 last week, compared to expectations for a 1,000 decline to 265,000.
Separately, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index rose to 2.0 this month from July’s reading of minus 2.9, in line with the consensus estimate.
The greenback had weakened broadly after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s July policy meeting released on Wednesday showed that policymakers were still divided over the need to raise interest rates this year.
However, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams on Thursday expressed his support for a U.S. interest rate hike in coming months, saying that waiting too long could be costly for the economy.
Sterling was little changed against the euro, with EUR/GBP at 0.8623.