GBP/USD almost unchanged following US data

The pound moved up and down between marginal gains and losses against the greenback on Thursday, after the release of a series of better-than-anticipated data from the US as the dollar stayed supported by lowered expectations for further monetary easing, reports forex-rateit.com.

GBP/USD hit 1.5635 in European afternoon trade, the two’s lowest since Tuesday, they subsequently inched up by 0.01 per cent, consolidating at 1.5676. Cable was expected to find support at the low of 12 March of 1.5602 and resistance at a five-week low of 1.5743, Wednesday’s high.

The Department of Labor revealed that the amount of individuals who filed for unemployment benefits last week in the US dropped to a seasonally adjusted 351,000, better than expectations of a fall to 356,000. The New York Federal Reserve revealed that its manufacturing conditions index improved unexpectedly in March, rising to its highest mark since June 2010.

Meanwhile, a separate showed that producer price inflation increased slightly less than anticipated, rising by a seasonally adjusted 0.4 per cent last month, below expectations for a gain of 0.5 per cent, while core producer prices increased at an yearly rate of three per cent in February, unchanged from January.

The data highlighted the opinion that the economic recovery in the US is gathering pace, after the Federal Reserve’s decision to upgrade its outlook for the economy earlier in the week, leading to investors cutting back expectations for a third wave of quantitative easing.