Investing.com - The pound edged lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday, pulling away from a one-month high after a downbeat report on the U.K. trade balance, while markets awaited upcoming U.S. employment data.
GBP/USD hit 1.5341 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5310, slipping 0.10%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5161, Thursday's low and resistance at 1.5586, the high of January 2.
In a report, the Office For National Statistics said that the U.K. trade deficit widened to £10.15 billion in December from £9.28 billion in November, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of £8.85 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to hit £9.10 billion in December.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained supported by data on Thursday showing that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits rose less-than-expected to 278,000 last week.
Investors continued to focus on developments in Greece, after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble said on Thursday that Greece's financial difficulties were the result of domestic problems, but that Germany would do all in its power to help.
Schauble was speaking at a joint press conference with his Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis in Berlin on Thursday.
The comments came after the European Central Bank said it would no longer accept Greek bonds as collateral for lending, shifting the burden on to Greece’s central bank to provide additional liquidity for its lenders and increasing pressure on Athens.
Sterling was fractionally higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP easing 0.09% to 0.7481.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report, and data on wage growth.