Forex Pros – The pound trimmed gains against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, pulling back from the daily high as investors awaited the release of U.S. employment data.
GBP/USD eased off 1.6417, the daily high, to hit 1.6370 during European afternoon trade, still up 0.23% on the day.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6130, the low of May 25 and resistance at 1.6495, Wednesday’s high.
Earlier in the day, the pound found support after data showed that activity in the U.K. construction sector picked up faster than expected in May, helped by a strong rise in new orders.
The Markit/CIPS headline construction purchasing managers index rose to 54.0 in May from 53.3 in April. Economists had expected the index to rise to 53.6.
The survey said employment in the sector increased for the first time since June 2010 and that firms were their most optimistic in a year about future activity.
However, the data was unlikely to alter expectations that the Bank of England would raise interest rates this year after data on Wednesday showed that manufacturing activity in the U.K. grew at its slowest pace in 20 months in May.
Meanwhile, the pound was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.69% to hit 0.8832.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish its weekly report on initial jobless claims, as well as revised data on non-farm productivity and labor costs. The country was also to publish official data on factory orders.
ForexPros.com
