Investing.com - The pound pushed lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday, after the release of downbeat U.K. manufacturing production data, while sentiment on the greenback improved ahead of a highly-anticipated U.S. jobs report due later in the day.
GBP/USD hit 1.2919 during European morning trade, the pair’s lowest since Wednesday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2921, sliding 0.38%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.2890, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.2984, Thursday’s high.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics reported that manufacturing production fell 0.2% in May, disappointing expectations for a 0.5% rise and after an increase of 0.2% the previous month.
Year-on-year, manufacturing production increased by 0.4%, less than the expeccted 1.0% advance.
The report also showed that industrial production slipped 0.1% in May, compared to expectations for a 0.4% rise.
The greenback initially weakened after payrolls processor ADP reported on Thursday that U.S. private employers added 158,000 jobs in June, well below economists' expectations.
A separate report showed that initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose by 4,000 to 248,000 last week.
The data came after Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve’s June meeting showed a lack of consensus among policymakers over the outlook for inflation and how it could impact the future pace of interest rate increases.
The Fed hiked rates at its June meeting and stuck to its forecast for one more rate hike this year and three in 2018, but the subdued inflation outlook has since raised doubts over whether the Fed will be able to stick to its planned tightening path.
But sentiment on the U.S. dollar improved ahead of a highly-anticipated U.S. employment report due later in the day.
Sterling was also lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.28% to 0.8833.