British pound edged lower against the US dollar on Friday, still supported by good UK trade balance data, but market focus was on US Non-Farm Payrolls change, expected later in the day.
GBP/USD slid to 1.5565 during European trade, currently the session low, after which consolidation followed at 1.5575. Support was expected at May 7th low, 1.5471, while resistance was to be encountered at Thursday high, 1.5684, also nearly four-month high.
Earlier today official report showed that UK trade deficit narrowed more than projected during April, as countrys trade registered a slight improvement. This came as a counterpoint to the economic decline, experienced by United Kingdoms major trading partners. Visible Trade Balance in UK, including only trade of goods, recorded a deficit of 8.224 billion GBP in April, shrinking in comparison with the revised deficit of 9.175 billion GBP a month ago. Estimates showed a deficit at the amount of 8.800 billion GBP. These results were due to lower import by 1.3 billion GBP. At the same time, export figure diminished by 0.4 billion GBP. Since UK coalition government take over in 2010, the country has been implementing a strategy of encouraging trade with the so called BRIC bloc of countries (Brazil, India, China and Russia) in order to decrease UK reliance on economically submerged Euro zone.
Additionally, it was announced that no change was introduced in UK consumer inflationary expectations for the next year, according to a survey, conducted during the three months until May 2013. Levels were preserved at 3.6%. Later inflation estimates pointed the level of 3.3%. Consumer Price Index (CPI) was to remain at 3.6% during a longer term (5 years), as the same result was stated in the preceding survey.
Meanwhile, investors eyed the upcoming employment data from US non-farm sector. The Department of Labor on Thursday stated that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance last week fell by 11,000 to 346,000. Expectations showed a decline to 345 000 claims. On Wednesday weak US private sector jobs data diminished expectations that the Federal Reserve Bank would begin to reduce scale of its asset purchasing program this year.
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