Forex - GBP/USD gains on U.K. housing data, greenback profit taking
Published Dec 06, 2013 02:17PM ET
In U.S. trading on Friday, GBP/USD was trading at 1.6340, up 0.02%, up from a session low of 1.6294 and off from a high of 1.6393.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6134, the low from Nov. 25, and resistance at 1.6404, Thursday's high.
Industry data showed that house price inflation in the U.K. rose 1.1% in November from October, beating expectations for a 0.6% increase, after an upwardly revised 1.3% rise the previous month.
On year, house price inflation rose 7.7% in November, beating market calls for a 7.2% reading.
The data helped edged the pound above the dollar in choppy trading as investors digested better-than-expected U.S. data.
The dollar advanced earlier after the Department of Labor said the U.S. economy added 203,000 jobs in November, beating expectations for a 180,000 increase and up from a downwardly revised 200,000 rise the previous month.
In the private sector, 196,000 jobs were added last month compared to expectations for a 180,000 rise, after an increase of 214,000 in October.
The report also said the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.0% in November, from 7.3% in October, beating expectations for a downtick to 7.2%.
Also on Friday, the preliminary Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index increased to 82.5 in December from 75.1 the previous month, far surpassing expectations for a 76.0 reading.
The data kept expectations firmly in place that the Federal Reserve will begin scaling back its USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases, which weaken the dollar to spur recovery.
Profit taking sent the greenback falling, as a strong jobs report was already priced into trading prior to Friday.
The pound, meanwhile, was down against the euro and up against the yen, with EUR/GBP up 0.17% at 0.8380 and GBP/JPY up 1.11% at 168.13.
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Written By: Investing.com
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