Investing.com - The pound remained lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday, as upbeat U.S. new home sales data fuelled further optimism over the strength of the country\'s economic recovery after Thursday\'s positive reports.
GBP/USD hit 1.6830 during U.S. morning trade, the pair\'s lowest since May 20; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6845, edging down 0.15%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6783, the low of May 16 and resistance at 1.6916, Thursday\'s high.
The Census Bureau said U.S. new home sales rose 6.4% to 433,000 units in April, from 407,000 units in March, whose figure was revised up from a previously estimated 384,000. Analysts had expected new home sales to rise to 425,000 units last month.
The data confirmed the idea that the housing market is regaining momentum, after the U.S. housing market after the National Association of Realtors on Thursday said existing home sales increased 1.3% in April to an annual rate of 4.65 million units.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the pound remained vulnerable after data on Thursday confirmed that the U.K. economy grew 0.8% in the first three months of the year, disappointing some market expectations for an upward revision.
Sterling was little changed against the euro, with EUR/GBP dipping 0.01% to 0.8095.
In the euro zone, the Ifo Institute for Economic Research earlier said its index for German business climate ticked down to a five-month low of 110.4 in May, from a reading of 111.2 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to fall to 110.9.