Investing.com - The pound edged higher against the U.S. dollar on Friday, helped by the release of upbeat U.S. manufacturing production and trade data, although the greenback was still supported by recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump.
GBP/USD hit 1.2521 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2515, up 0.14%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.2423, the low of February 6 and resistance at 1,2585, Thursday’s high.
The U.K. Office for National Staistics said that manufacturing production rose 2.1% in December, beating expectations for a 0.5% gain. Manufacturing production climbed 1.4% in November, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 1.3% rise.
Year-on-year, manufacturing production increased by 4.0% in December, exceeding expectations for a 1.8% gain.
The report also showed that industrial production rose 1.1% in December, more than the expected 0.2% gain.
Data also showed that the U.K. trade deficit narrowed to £10.89 billion in December from £11.56 billion in November, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of £12.16 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to hit £11.50 billion in December.
But the dollar remained supported after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would announce the most ambitious tax reform plan since the Reagan era in the next few weeks.
During a meeting with airline CEOs on Thursday, Trump promised a “phenomenal” tax plan, without giving any specific details of the plan.
The comments came after the U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims decreased by 12,000 to 234,000 in the week ending February 4. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 4,000.
Sterling was also higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.26% to 0.8502.