Forexpros – The pound rose to a fresh session high against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, after a report showed that U.K. factory orders rebounded to their highest level in six months in February, while better-than-expected German data also helped market sentiment.
GBP/USD hit 1.5724 during European afternoon trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5717, gaining 0.31%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5649, the session low and resistance at 1.5769, the high of February 14.
The Confederation of British Industry said in a report earlier that factory orders rebounded to hit a six-month high this month, rising by 13 points to minus 3.0, from a reading of minus 16 in January.
Market sentiment also found support an index of German business confidence improved more-than-expected in February, fuelling hopes that the euro zone’s largest economy was weathering the impact of the debt crisis in the region and may avoid slipping into a recession.
Meanwhile, the European Commission revised up its forecast for economic growth in the U.K. from 1.2% to 1.7% in 2012.
The EC also said the euro zone’s economy would contract by 0.3% in the first quarter after dropping by the same amount in the last quarter of 2011. Two consecutive quarters of contraction signal a recession.
The pound was fractionally lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP inching up 0.03% to hit 0.8458.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce government data on initial jobless claims.
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