Investing.com - The pound rose to 33-month highs against the U.S. dollar on Friday, as demand for sterling remained broadly supported after the Bank of England revised up its forecast for growth earlier in the week, while markets eyed upcoming U.S. economic reports.
GBP/USD hit 1.6715 during European morning trade, the pair's highest since May 2011; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6696, rising 0.23%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6600, Thursday's low and resistance at 1.6739.
The pound remained supported after the BoE raised its U.K. economic growth forecast for 2014 to 3.4% from 2.8% on Wednesday.
The bank also updated its forward guidance on bank rates, saying it will not raise rates until the spare capacity in the U.K. economy has been fully absorbed, which it does not see happening until 2015.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained under pressure after the Commerce Department on Thursday said U.S. retail sales fell 0.4% last month, confounding expectations for a 0.3% increase, while the Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose by 8,000 to 339,000 from the previous week’s total of 331,000.
Sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.23% to 0.8193.
Also Friday, preliminary data showed that German gross domestic product rose 0.4% in the fourth quarter, exceeding expectations for a 0.3% expansion, and after a 0.3% rise in the three months to September.
A preliminary report also showed that French GDP expanded by 0.3% in the last quarter, compared to expectations for a 0.2% rise, after a 0.1% contraction in the third quarter.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, as well as data on import prices and industrial production.