Investing.com - The pound held steady against the U.S. dollar on Friday, still hovering close to the previous session's one-and-a-half month low even as data showed that the U.K. grew in line with expectations in the second quarter.
GBP/USD hit 1.5443 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5414.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5368, Thursday's low and resistance at 1.5508, Thursday's high.
The Office for National Statistics said the U.K. gross domestic product rose 0.7% in the second quarter, in line with expectations and unchanged from a preliminary estimate.
On a yearly basis, the U.K. economy grew at a rate of 2.6% in the last quarter, in line with market expectations.
But the pound's gains were limited as demand for the greenback remained broadly supported after data on Thursday showed that U.S. GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.7% in the three months ending June 30, above expectations for growth of 3.2%.
Data also showed that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week in the U.S. declined by 6,000 to 271,000 from the previous week’s total of 277,000.
The upbeat data added to optimism over the perspective for global economic growth, while concerns over volatility in Asian markets continued to subside. Shares in Shanghai opened higher on Friday, after closing over 5% the day before.
Sterling was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP gaining 0.36% to 0.7325.