Investing.com - The pound remained near 33-month highs against the U.S. dollar on Friday, after positive U.S. consumer sentiment data lent support to greenback, but the Bank of England's forecast for growth earlier in the week continued to support demand for sterling.
GBP/USD hit 1.6724 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's highest since May 2011; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6732, gaining 0.44%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6600, Thursday's low and resistance at 1.6739.
In a preliminary report, the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index remained unchanged at 81.2 this month, beating expectations for a fall to 80.6.
The report came after official data showed that U.S. industrial production fell 0.3% in January, compared to expectations for a 0.3% rise, after a 0.3% increase the previous month.
Data also showed that U.S. import prices rose 0.1% last month, confounding expectations for a 0.1% downtick, after a 0.2% rise in December.
Meanwhile, the pound remained supported after the BoE raised its U.K. economic growth forecast for 2014 to 3.4% from 2.8% on Wednesday.
The bank also updated its forward guidance on bank rates, saying it will not raise rates until the spare capacity in the U.K. economy has been fully absorbed, which it does not see happening until 2015.
Sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP sliding 0.39% to 0.8181.
Also Friday, preliminary data showed that the euro zone's gross domestic product expanded by 0.3% in the fourth-quarter, above expectations for a 0.2% expansion, after a 0.1% rise in the third quarter.
A separate report showed that German GDP rose 0.4% in the fourth quarter, exceeding expectations for a 0.3% expansion, and after a 0.3% rise in the three months to September.
In France, the GDP expanded by 0.3% in the last quarter, compared to expectations for a 0.2% rise, after a 0.1% contraction in the third quarter.