FOREX - GBP/USD LITTLE CHANGED AFTER POSITIVE U.K. DATA

The pound was little changed against the U.S. dollar on Friday, after the release of positive economic reports from the U.K., as Thursday's strong U.S. jobless claims data continued to support the greenback. 

Pound holds steady after U.K. data

GBP/USD hit 1.6422 during European morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.6452, dipping 0.01%. 

Cable was likely to find support at 1.6351, the low of December 26 and resistance at 1.6604, Thursday's high and a 29-month high. 

Market research group said the U.K. construction purchasing managers' index fell to 62.1 in December, from a reading of 62.6 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to drop to 62.0 last month. 

The report came after industry data showed that U.K. house price inflation rose 1.4% in December, beating expectations for a 0.7% uptick, after an upwardly revised 0.7% increase in November. 

Separately, market sentiment came under pressure after data showed that China's non-manufacturing PMI fell to 54.6 in December, from a reading of 56.0 the previous month. 

Reports earlier in the week showed that China’s final HSBC PMI inched down to 50.5 in December from a reading of 50.8 in November, while China’s manufacturing PMI fell to a four-month low of 51.0 last month from 51.4 in November. 

Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported after the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending December 28 declined by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 339,000. 

Analysts had expected U.S. jobless claims to fall by 7,000 to 334,000 last week from the previous week’s revised total of 341,000. 

Sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.19% to 0.8293. 

Also Friday, official data showed that the number of unemployed people in Spain dropped by 107,600 in December, compared to expectations for a 20,000 rise, after 2,500 decline the previous month.