Forex - GBP/USD edges higher before U.S. data

The pound edged higher against the dollar on Thursday, but gains were limited ahead of a series of U.S. economic data releases later in the session.

GBP/USD hit 1.5248 during European afternoon trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5241, inching up 0.04%.

Cable was likely to find support at 1.5172, Wednesday’s low and a six-week low and resistance at 1.5271, Wednesday’s high.

The dollar remained stronger despite data on Wednesday showing that U.S. industrial production fell by 0.5% in April, more than forecasts for a 0.2% drop. 

Investors were awaiting U.S. data on jobless claims, housing starts and consumer inflation later Thursday amid speculation over a possible near-term exit from the Federal Reserve’s asset purchase program.

In the U.K., the Bank of England revised up its forecast for growth on Wednesday, saying it now expected the economy to expand by 0.5% in the current quarter, up from 0.3% in the three months to March.

The bank also said it expects inflation to remain above its 2% target for most of the next two years.

Sterling edged higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.10% to 0.8449.

In the euro zone, official data showed that the bloc posted a record trade surplus of EUR18.7 billion in March as exports grew 2.8% from February, while imports fell 1%.

A separate report confirmed that euro zone consumer price inflation fell 0.1% in April from the previous month, with the annual rate of inflation slowing to 1.2% from 1.7% in March.

The reports came one day after data showed that the recession in the bloc deepened in the first quarter, with the economy contracting 0.2%, bringing the annualized rate of decline to 0.9%.