Investing.com - The pound softened against the dollar on Friday after a U.K. construction-sector gauge disappointed investors, though a mixed bag of U.S. data cushioned sterling's losses.
In U.S. trading on Friday, GBP/USD was down 0.03% at 1.5728, up from a session low of 1.5696 and off a high of 1.5745.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5624, Tuesday's low, and resistance at 1.5756, Thursday's high.
Earlier Friday, the U.K. Office for National Statistics reported that construction output declined 2.2% in October, disappointing expectations for a 0.8% rise.
Construction output rose 2.2% in September, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 1.8% gain.
The numbers softened the pound, though spotty data out of the U.S. cushioned losses.
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to a nearly eight-year high of 93.8 this month from 88.8 in November. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 89.7 in December.
The data came after the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the U.S. producer price index fell 0.2% last month, surpassing expectations for a 0.1% downtick, after rising 0.2% in October.
Core producer price inflation, which excludes food, energy and trade, was flat in November, confounding expectations for a 0.1% rise, after an increase of 0.4% the previous month.
Elsewhere, sterling was down against the euro, with EUR/GBP up 0.61% at 0.7936, and down against the yen, with GBP/JPY down 0.39% at 186.01.