Investing.com - The pound edged higher against the U.S. dollar on Friday, supported by the release of higher than expected U.K. house price data, although Thursday's U.S. economic reports still lent support to the greenback.
GBP/USD hit 1.6606 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6603, adding 0.10%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6537, the low of August 27 and a five-month low and resistance at 1.6679, the high of August 20.
In a report, the Nationwide Building Society said that U.K. house price inflation climbed 0.8% this month, exceeding expectations for a 0.1% gain. For July, the change in house price inflation was revised to a 0.2% increase from a previously estimated 0.1% rise.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained supported after a string of upbeat reports on Thursday confirmed the view that the U.S. economic recovery is on track.
Preliminary data showed that U.S. gross domestic product expanded by 4.2% in the second quarter, beating expectations for growth of 3.9%.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending August 22 declined by 1,000 to 298,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 299,000.
Sterling was also higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.18% to 0.7932.
Also Friday, official data showed that German retail sales declined 1.4% in July, disappointing expectations for a 0.1% rise, after a 1.0% gain in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 1.3% advance.
The data added to concerns over the health of the euro zone's second biggest economy.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a report on personal spending and revised data from the University of Michigan on consumer sentiment.