Investing.com - The pound held steady against the U.S. dollar in subdued trade on Friday, hovering near four-week highs as markets continued to focus on the Federal Reserve's next policy moves, following indications it could soon begin tapering its asset purchases.
GBP/USD hit 1.6216 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's highest since October 25; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6205, inching up 0.04%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6060, the low of November 19 and resistance at 1.6257, the high of October 23.
Demand for the dollar remained supported after preliminary data on Thursday showed that U.S. manufacturing activity improved to an eight-month high of 54.3 in November, while a separate report showed that jobless claims last week fell by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000.
The minutes of the Fed's October meeting showed earlier in the week that the central bank could start scaling back the USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program in the “coming months” if the economy continues to improve as expected.
Sterling was lower against the euro with EUR/GBP gaining 0.34%, to hit 0.8349.
Also Friday, the Ifo Institute for Economic Research said Germany's business climate index rose to a 19-month high of 109.3 in November, from a reading of 107.4 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 107.7 this month.
The data strengthened the idea that Germany's economic recovery is gaining momentum, after data on Thursday showed that manufacturing activity in the euro zone's biggest economy rose to a 29 month peak this month.
GBP/USD hit 1.6216 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's highest since October 25; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6205, inching up 0.04%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6060, the low of November 19 and resistance at 1.6257, the high of October 23.
Demand for the dollar remained supported after preliminary data on Thursday showed that U.S. manufacturing activity improved to an eight-month high of 54.3 in November, while a separate report showed that jobless claims last week fell by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000.
The minutes of the Fed's October meeting showed earlier in the week that the central bank could start scaling back the USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program in the “coming months” if the economy continues to improve as expected.
Sterling was lower against the euro with EUR/GBP gaining 0.34%, to hit 0.8349.
Also Friday, the Ifo Institute for Economic Research said Germany's business climate index rose to a 19-month high of 109.3 in November, from a reading of 107.4 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 107.7 this month.
The data strengthened the idea that Germany's economic recovery is gaining momentum, after data on Thursday showed that manufacturing activity in the euro zone's biggest economy rose to a 29 month peak this month.