Investing.com - The pound declined against the U.S. dollar on Friday, as demand for the greenback strengthened after the release of upbeat U.S. manufacturing data added to expectations for the Federal Reserve to soon begin scaling back its stimulus program.
GBP/USD hit 1.5933 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's lowest since October 16; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5926, retreating 0.69%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5776, the low of September 13 and resistance at 1.6068, Thursday's high.
The greenback strengthened broadly after the Institute of Supply Management rose to 56.4 in October, from a reading of 56.2 the previous month, confounding expectations for a decline to 55.0.
The report came a day after data showed that manufacturing activity in the Chicago region expanded at the fastest rate in 30 years in October, while a separate report showed that U.S. initial jobless claims fell in line with expectations last week.
The data fuelled speculation that the Fed may start tapering stimulus sooner than expected, after the central bank sounded more optimistic than anticipated in its assessment of the economy on Wednesday.
The pound came under pressure earlier, after Markit research group said the U.K. manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 56.0 in October, from a downwardly revised reading of 56.3 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 56.1 last month.
Sterling was steady against the euro with EUR/GBP inching down 0.01%, to hit 0.8469.
Sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable after data on Thursday showing that euro zone inflation fell to a four year low in October sparked concerns over the risk of further rate cuts by the European Central Bank.
GBP/USD hit 1.5933 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's lowest since October 16; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5926, retreating 0.69%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5776, the low of September 13 and resistance at 1.6068, Thursday's high.
The greenback strengthened broadly after the Institute of Supply Management rose to 56.4 in October, from a reading of 56.2 the previous month, confounding expectations for a decline to 55.0.
The report came a day after data showed that manufacturing activity in the Chicago region expanded at the fastest rate in 30 years in October, while a separate report showed that U.S. initial jobless claims fell in line with expectations last week.
The data fuelled speculation that the Fed may start tapering stimulus sooner than expected, after the central bank sounded more optimistic than anticipated in its assessment of the economy on Wednesday.
The pound came under pressure earlier, after Markit research group said the U.K. manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 56.0 in October, from a downwardly revised reading of 56.3 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 56.1 last month.
Sterling was steady against the euro with EUR/GBP inching down 0.01%, to hit 0.8469.
Sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable after data on Thursday showing that euro zone inflation fell to a four year low in October sparked concerns over the risk of further rate cuts by the European Central Bank.