Investing.com - The pound fell agains the U.S. dollar on Friday, after the release of downbeat U.K. service sector activity data and as investors awaited the highly-anticipated U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due later in the day.
GBP/USD hit 1.2487 during European morning trade, the pair’s lowest since January 31; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2486, shedding 0.31%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.2410, the low of January 31 and resistance at 1.2686, Wednesday’s high.
Market research group Markit said its U.K. services purchasing managers’ index dropped to 54.5 last month from a reading of 56.2 in December. Analysts had expected the index to fall only to 55.8 in January.
Investors were still cautious as U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies and immigration bans spurred ongoing uncertainty in global markets.
On Thursday, Trump suggested the possibility of imposing new sanctions on multiple Iranian entities, seeking to increase pressure on Tehran.
Market participants were looking ahead to the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, due later Friday, after upbeat initial jobless claims numbers released the day before sparked fresh optimism over the strength of the jobs market.
Sterling was also lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP adding 0.19% to 0.8603.