Forexpros – The pound trimmed back losses against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, after U.S. government data showed that jobless claims fell to the lowest level since February 2008 last week, easing concerns over the outlook for global economic growth.
GBP/USD pulled back from 1.5771, the pair’s lowest since March 16, to hit 1.5808 during European afternoon trade, still down 0.42% on the day.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5693, the low of March 16 and resistance at 1.5891, the session high.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell to a seasonally adjusted 348,000, beating expectations for a decline of 3,000 to 350,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 353,000 from 351,000.
Jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 19 of the past 21 weeks.
Sentiment on the pound was hit earlier after official data showed that U.K. retail sales posted the largest drop in nine months in February and were revised down for the previous month.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics said retail sales fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.5% decline.
Retail sales for January were revised down to a 0.3% gain from a previously reported 0.9% increase.
Elsewhere Thursday, preliminary data showed that manufacturing activity in the euro zone slumped unexpectedly in March, while service sector activity in the region declined to the lowest level in four months, sparking concerns that the region’s economy is sliding back into a recession.
A separate report showed that that China’s HSBC manufacturing index contracted for a fifth successive month in March, as new orders fell, underlining fears over a possible slowdown in growth in the worlds second largest economy.
The pound was slightly lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP easing up 0.08% to hit 0.8332.
Later in the day, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke were to speak at public engagements.
Forexpros
