Investing.com - The pound held steady against the U.S. dollar on Friday, after the release of positive U.K. manufacturing data, while the greenback marked a pause from its recent rally but remained broadly supported.
GBP/USD hit 1.6115 during European morning trade, the pair's highest since October 3; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6084, inching up 0.01%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5941, Monday's low and an 11-month low and resistance at 1.6251, the high of October 2.
In a report, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said manufacturing production rose 0.1% in August, in line with expectations, after an increase of 0.3% in July.
On a yearly basis, U.K. manufacturing production rose by 3.9% in August, exceeding expectations for a 3.4% gain. July's figure was revised to a 3.5% increase from a previously estimated 2.2% rise.
The report also showed that industrial production was flat in August, compared to expectations for a 0.2% gain, after increasing 0.4% in July.
The data came amid growing expectations that the Bank of England will leave rates on hold until next year.
Meanwhile, demand for the dollar remained supported after data on Friday showed that the U.S. economy added 248,000 jobs in September, well ahead of forecasts for jobs growth of 215,000. The unemployment rate ticked down from 6.0% to 5.9%, the lowest level since July 2008.
The data added to the view that the strengthening economic recovery may prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner than markets are expecting.
Sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.21% to 0.7851.
In the euro zone, data showed that industrial output in Germany dropped by 4.0% in August. It was the largest decline since early 2009 and was much worse than forecasts for a fall of 1.5%.