Investing.com - The pound edged lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday, weighed by the release of downbeat U.K trade balance data, while investors turned their attention to an upcoming U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.
GBP/USD hit 1.6802 during European morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6807, edging down 0.08%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6723, Thursday's low and resistance at 1.6882, the high of May 27.
Official data showed that the U.K. trade deficit widened to £8.92 billion in April, from £8.29 billion in March, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of £8.48 billion. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to £8.65 billion in April.
Separately, the Bank of England said consumer inflation expectations for the next year fell to 2.6% in the first quarter, from 2.8% in the three months to December.
Market participants were now eyeing U.S. nonfarm payrolls data to be released later in the day for further indications on the strength of the job market after recent employment reports fuelled investors' concerns.
On Thursday, the Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending May 31 increased by 8,000 to 312,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 304,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 6,000 to 310,000 last week.
Sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.12% to 0.8112.
In the euro zone, official data earlier showed that Germany's trade surplus widened to €17.7 billion in April, from €15.0 billion in March, whose figure was revised up from a previously estimated surplus of €14.8 billion. Analysts had expected the trade surplus to widen to €15.2 billion in April.
