Investing.com – The U.S. dollar rose to a fresh daily high against sterling on Thursday after official data showed that the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits fell by 24,000 last week.
USD/GBP hit a daily low at 1.5364 shortly after the release of the U.S. Labor Department report, shedding 0.32%. The pair was likely to find resistance at 1.5816, the high of Feb. 17, and support at 1.5129, the low of April 6.
In the report, the Labor Department said initial jobless applications dropped by 24,000 to 456,000 in the week ended April 17. Economists had expected a slightly larger fall to 450,000.
Earlier in the day, government data showed that U.K. retail sales volumes rose by 0.4% in March from February, a smaller increase than economists had expected.
Sterling also slid versus the yen on Thursday, with GBP/JPY dropping 0.37% to reach 143.1.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama was set to deliver a speech in New York castigating Wall Street and trumpeting more consumer protections, limits on the size of banks and the risks they can take, reforms on executive compensation and greater transparency for derivatives.
USD/GBP hit a daily low at 1.5364 shortly after the release of the U.S. Labor Department report, shedding 0.32%. The pair was likely to find resistance at 1.5816, the high of Feb. 17, and support at 1.5129, the low of April 6.
In the report, the Labor Department said initial jobless applications dropped by 24,000 to 456,000 in the week ended April 17. Economists had expected a slightly larger fall to 450,000.
Earlier in the day, government data showed that U.K. retail sales volumes rose by 0.4% in March from February, a smaller increase than economists had expected.
Sterling also slid versus the yen on Thursday, with GBP/JPY dropping 0.37% to reach 143.1.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama was set to deliver a speech in New York castigating Wall Street and trumpeting more consumer protections, limits on the size of banks and the risks they can take, reforms on executive compensation and greater transparency for derivatives.