Investing.com - The pound slipped lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday, after data showed that U.K. manufacturing activity expanded at a slower rate than expected this month, altough the greenback remained fragile ahead of the release of U.S. employment data later in the day.
GBP/USD hit 1.4325 during European morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4345, slipping 0.13%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.4191, the low of March 29 and resistance at 1.4458, the high of March 30.
Markit research group said its U.K. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 51.0 in March from 50.8 the previous month, disappointing expectations for an increase to 51.2.
The report came a day after data showed that U.K. gross domestic product rose by 0.6% in the three months to December, up from last month’s estimate of 0.5% growth.
The U.K. economy expanded 2.1% on a year-over-year basis, better than the initial estimate of 1.9%.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the dollar remained fragile as investors awaited the release of U.S. nonfarm payrolls and unemployment data later Friday, for further indications on the strength of the job market.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending March 26 increased by 11,000 to 276,000 from the previous week’s total of 265,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to hold steady at 265,000 last week.
Sterling was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP adding 0.21% to 0.7942.