Pound jumps to fresh 5-month high against dollar

NEW YORK (Forex News Now) – Sterling jumped to a fresh 5-month high against the dollar on Friday, after disappointing U.S. data showed that the world’s largest economy is slowing.

In New York afternoon currency trading, GBP/USD struck 1.5721, cable’s highest since Feb. 17. The currency pair later retreated slightly to trade at 1.5696, up 0.54 percent on the day.

The Commerce Department reported earlier that U.S. gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, expanded at an annual rate of 2.4 percent in the second quarter, after expanding a revised 3.7 percent in the previous three months.

Analysts had expected slightly more robust growth of 2.5 percent in the second quarter, two global forex news outlets reported.

According to forex analysis, GBP/USD was likely to touch support around the daily low, 1.5551, and encounter immediate resistance around the high of Feb. 17, 1.5816.

The Guardian, meanwhile, reported that next week, U.K. banks are expected to reveal that they are making bigger profits out of their high street customers than they were a year ago as bad debt charges fall and their mortgage businesses generate bigger returns.

Elsewhere, sterling climbed versus the yen: GBP/JPY traded at 135.68, up 0.14 percent.