Investing.com - The pound was trading near five-year highs against the U.S. dollar on Friday, after the release of upbeat U.K. public sector borrowing data and as the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting continued to weigh on the greenback.
GBP/USD hit 1.7059 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.7055, edging up 0.09%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6960, the low of June 16 and resistance at 1.7040.
Official data showed that U.K. public sector net borrowing rose to £11.48 billion in May, from a upwardly revised £9.00 billion the previous month. Analysts had expected public sector net borrowing to rise to £12.00 billion last month.
Demand for the pound also continued to be underpinned by expectations that the Bank of England will raise interest rates ahead of other central banks.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained under pressure after the Fed gave no indication of when interest rates could start to rise at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. In addition, the Fed’s forecast of where interest rates might reach in the long term fell from 4% to 3.75%.
The central bank cut its bond purchases by $10 billion a month, to $35 billion, saying there was "sufficient underlying strength" in the U.S. economy to continue tapering.
The greenback shrugged off data on Thursday showing that U.S. jobless claims fell more than expected last week, as well as a separate report showing that manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area expanded at the fastest rate in eight months in June.
Sterling was steady against the euro, with EUR/GBP dipping 0.06% to 0.7980.
In the euro zone, official data showed that German producer price inflation fell 0.2% last month, compared to expectations for a 0.2% rise, after a 0.1% downtick in April.