Investing.com - The pound rose against the U.S. dollar on Friday, after data showed that the U.K. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in May and as hopes for a Greek debt deal lent support to riskier assets.
GBP/USD hit 1.5455 during European morning trade, the pair's highest since Wednesday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5450, gaining 0.47%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5327, the low of July 8 and resistance at 1.5554, the high of June 10.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics reported on Friday that the trade deficit narrowed to £8.00 billion in May from £9.39 billion in April, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of £8.56 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to £9.70 billion in May.
At the same time, market sentiment improved after Greece offered to make painful spending cuts and hike taxes late Thursday, in a last-ditch request to win one more bailout from Europe before the country descends into bankruptcy.
Athens was seeking at least €50 billion over the next three years. In exchange, the government presented a number of austerity measures that were said to total between €12 billion and €13 billion - significantly more than Greece’s previous commitments.
The move brought Greece one step closer to a deal with its European creditors, who plan to make a final decision Sunday about whether to grant the country additional emergency loans.
In the meantime, the Greek government extended bank closures and the €60 daily limit on cash machine withdrawals until Monday.
Sterling was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP adding 0.18% to 0.7189.