Investing.com - The pound rose against the dollar Friday as despite British opposition to terms of a pact to strengthen fiscal discipline in Europe, London remained committed to a stable euro, which was the very aim of the pact all along.
Healthier than expected U.K. trade figures bolstered the currency as well.
GBP/USD hit 1.5664 in late U.S. trading, up 0.22%.
The pair tested support at 1.5586, Friday's low, and resistance at 1.5770, Friday's high.
In Europe, 26 of the 27-member eurozone agreed to a pact beefing up spending and deficit policies.
All 17 countries that operate on the euro and another nine who want to threw their support behind the proposals.
Britain doesn't operate on the euro but is part of the EU and said it would not agree to the summit's proposals due to what it sees is a lack of safeguards and concessions that threatens its markets.
European leaders also agreed to earmark 200 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund to strengthen European bailout facilities.
On top of that, a 500 billion euro European Stability Mechanism will take effect next year and aid countries alongside an existing but temporary 440 billion euro European Financial Stability Facility.
In the United States, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that U.S. trade deficit hit a seasonally adjusted $43.5 billion in October compared with a revised $44.2 billion in September.
The deficit fell in line with market forecasts, however, the September revision was a little higher than expected.
Also in the United States, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rose more than expected to a seasonally adjusted 67.7 from 64.1 in a previous reading.
In the United Kingdom, the government reported a trade deficit of 7.6 billion pounds, much lower than a forecast for a 9.5 billion pound trade gap.
U.K. producer price inflation input rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.1% last month compared with -0.8% in the preceding month.
The pound was down against the euro, meanwhile, with EUR/GBP up 0.01% at 0.85379, and up against the Swiss franc, with GBP/CHR up 0.01% at 1.4485.
Healthier than expected U.K. trade figures bolstered the currency as well.
GBP/USD hit 1.5664 in late U.S. trading, up 0.22%.
The pair tested support at 1.5586, Friday's low, and resistance at 1.5770, Friday's high.
In Europe, 26 of the 27-member eurozone agreed to a pact beefing up spending and deficit policies.
All 17 countries that operate on the euro and another nine who want to threw their support behind the proposals.
Britain doesn't operate on the euro but is part of the EU and said it would not agree to the summit's proposals due to what it sees is a lack of safeguards and concessions that threatens its markets.
European leaders also agreed to earmark 200 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund to strengthen European bailout facilities.
On top of that, a 500 billion euro European Stability Mechanism will take effect next year and aid countries alongside an existing but temporary 440 billion euro European Financial Stability Facility.
In the United States, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that U.S. trade deficit hit a seasonally adjusted $43.5 billion in October compared with a revised $44.2 billion in September.
The deficit fell in line with market forecasts, however, the September revision was a little higher than expected.
Also in the United States, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rose more than expected to a seasonally adjusted 67.7 from 64.1 in a previous reading.
In the United Kingdom, the government reported a trade deficit of 7.6 billion pounds, much lower than a forecast for a 9.5 billion pound trade gap.
U.K. producer price inflation input rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.1% last month compared with -0.8% in the preceding month.
The pound was down against the euro, meanwhile, with EUR/GBP up 0.01% at 0.85379, and up against the Swiss franc, with GBP/CHR up 0.01% at 1.4485.