Investing.com - The pound erased gains against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, pulling away from session highs after the release of upbeat U.S. economic reports sent the greenback broadly higher.
GBP/USD pulled away from 1.5591 during U.S. morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5531, slipping 0.16%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5274, the low of April 25 and resistance at 1.5689, the high of February 13.
The U.S. Department of Labor said that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the U.S. last week fell by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 324,000, the lowest level since January 2008.
Separate reports showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed more-than-expected in January, while U.S. non-farm productivity rose less-than-expected in the first quarter.
Market players were looking ahead to Friday’s highly-anticipated U.S. monthly jobs report to further asses the strength of the country’s economy and the need for further stimulus from the Federal Reserve.
Sterling found support earlier, after Markit said the U.K. construction purchasing managers' index rose to 49.4 from 47.2 in March, better than expectations for a reading of 48.0.
The pound was higher against the euro with EUR/GBP declining 0.63%, to hit 0.8419.
The euro came under broad selling pressure after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the ECB has an “open mind” on a negative deposit rate for banks. The deposit rate is the rate paid by the ECB on overnight deposits by euro zone banks.
The ECB left its deposit rate unchanged at zero at its policy meeting earlier.
The ECB cut the benchmark interest rate to 0.5% from 0.75%, amid mounting concerns over the outlook for the region’s economy.
GBP/USD pulled away from 1.5591 during U.S. morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5531, slipping 0.16%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5274, the low of April 25 and resistance at 1.5689, the high of February 13.
The U.S. Department of Labor said that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the U.S. last week fell by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 324,000, the lowest level since January 2008.
Separate reports showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed more-than-expected in January, while U.S. non-farm productivity rose less-than-expected in the first quarter.
Market players were looking ahead to Friday’s highly-anticipated U.S. monthly jobs report to further asses the strength of the country’s economy and the need for further stimulus from the Federal Reserve.
Sterling found support earlier, after Markit said the U.K. construction purchasing managers' index rose to 49.4 from 47.2 in March, better than expectations for a reading of 48.0.
The pound was higher against the euro with EUR/GBP declining 0.63%, to hit 0.8419.
The euro came under broad selling pressure after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the ECB has an “open mind” on a negative deposit rate for banks. The deposit rate is the rate paid by the ECB on overnight deposits by euro zone banks.
The ECB left its deposit rate unchanged at zero at its policy meeting earlier.
The ECB cut the benchmark interest rate to 0.5% from 0.75%, amid mounting concerns over the outlook for the region’s economy.