Investing.com - The pound rose against the U.S. dollar on Friday, after data showed that construction activity in the U.K. expanded at the fastest rate since March last month, while markets eyed the release of highly-anticipated U.S. employment data later in the day.
GBP/USD hit 1.5174 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5165, rising 0.22%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5105, Thursday's low and a nearly five-month low and resistance at 1.5213, the high of September 30.
Research group Markit reported on Friday that its U.K. construction purchasing managers' index rose to a six-month high of 59.9 in September from a reading of 57.3 in August. Analysts had expected the index to tick up to 57.5 last month.
Meanwhile, investors were awaiting the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for September, which could help to provide clarity on the likelihood of a near-term interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
The dollar came under mild selling pressure after after te Institute for Supply Management said on Thursday that its manufacturing PMI fell to 50.2 last month from a reading of 51.1 in August.
The report came shortly after the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending September 26 increased by 10,000 to 277,000 from the previous week’s total of 267,000, compared to expectations for a 3,000 rise.
Sterling was also higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP retreating 0.44% to 0.7365.