Investing.com - The pound held steady near one-month highs against the U.S. dollar on Friday, after the release of upbeat U.K. construction data, as investors remained cautious ahead of a highly-anticipated U.S. employment report due later in the day.
GBP/USD hit 1.3293 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3275.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.3123, Thursday’s low and resistance at 1.3372, the high of August 3.
Research group Markit said on Friday thats its U.K. construction purchasing managers’ index rose to 49.2 in August from 45.9 the previous month, beating expectations for an increase to 46.1.
The data came a day after Markit said its U.K. manufacturing PMI rose to a 10-month high of 53.3 this month from a reading of 48.2 in July. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 49.0 in August.
The upbeat data eased concerns over a potential economic slowdown in the U.K. following the June 23 vote to leave the European Union.
The greenback had weakened after the Institute for Supply Management said on Thursday that its manufacturing activity index dropped to 49.4 last month from July’s reading of 52.6. It was the worst reading since January and missed expectations for a slight drop to 52.0.
The report came shortly after data showed that U.S. initial jobless claims increased by 2,000 to 263,000 last week, compared to expectations for a 4,000 rise to 265,000.
Market participants were eyeing the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due later Friday for further indications on the strength of the job market after Federal Reserve officials recently indicated that the pace of interest rate increases will be data dependent
Sterling was also steady against the euro, with EUR/GBP at 0.8424.