Investing.com - The pound edged lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday, pulling back from a six-month peak as the greenback recovered from the previous session's mixed U.S. data and as investors awaited the release of additional U.S. reports later in the day.
GBP/USD hit 1.5746 during European morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5741, slipping 0.22%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5630, the low of May 13 and resistance at 1.5816, Thursday's high and a six-month high.
On Thursday, the Department of Labor said the number of Americans filing claims for initial jobless benefits in the week ending May 9 fell by 1,000 to 264,000, coming in just above the 15 year low reached two weeks ago, indicating that the recovery in the labor market is continuing.
But the data was overshadowed by another report showing that the U.S. producer price index fell 0.4% last month and was 1.3% lower on a year-over-year basis, the largest drop since 2010.
The weak inflation data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold off on raising interest rates until the economic recovery is on a stronger footing.
Investors were now looking ahead to reports on U.S. industrial production, manufacturing activity in the New York region and consumer sentiment, due later in the day, for further indications on the strength of the economy.
In the U.K., the Office for National Statistics reported on Friday that construction output rose 3.9% in March, confounding expectations for an increase of 4.1%. The change in construction output in February was revised to a 0.3% slip from a previously estimated 0.9% fall.
Sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.22% to 0.7215.
Sentiment on the single currency remained vulnerable as Greek officials were set to hold talks with the euro area and the International Monetary Fund on Friday, amid mounting pressure for Athens to seal an agreement for aid as it runs out of cash reserves and time.