Investing.com - The pound held steady against the U.S. dollar in quiet trade on Friday, as expectations for interest rate hikes by both the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England continued to lend equal support to the two currencies.
GBP/USD hit 1.5575 during European morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5605.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5532, the low of August 12 and resistance at 1.5661, the high of August 12.
The dollar found support after data on Thursday showed that U.S. jobless claims held near the lowest level since November 1973 added to expectations for a September rate hike by the Fed.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending August 8 rose by 5,000 to 274,000 from the previous week’s total of 269,000.
In addition, the U.S. Commerce Department said that retail sales increased by 0.6% last month, beating expectations for a gain of 0.5%, while core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, rose by 0.4% in July, matching forecasts.
Meanwhile, expectations for a rate hike by the BoE before the end of the year also lingered, although the central bank's latest meeting showed that only one policymaker voted in favor of a rate increase this month.
Sterling was also steady against the euro, with EUR/GBP at 0.7138.