Investing.com - The pound remained at two-month lows against the U.S. dollar on Friday, after the release of downbeat U.K. manufacturing production data and as concerns surrounding the results of the U.K. election continued to weigh.
GBP/USD hit 1.2636 during European morning trade, the pair’s lowest since April 18; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2743, down 0.69%
Cable was likely to find support at 1.2513, the low of April 18 and resistance at 1.2835, the high of April 21.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics said manufacturing production increased by 0.2% in April, disappointing expectations for a gain of 0.9% and following a drop of 0.6% in the previous month.
On an annualized basis, manufacturing production was flat in April, compared to forecasts for a 0.7% rise.
The report also showed that industrial production gained 0.2% in April, below forecasts for a 0.8% increase.
The data came as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority in Thursday’s general election, potentially disrupting Brexit negotiations.
May faced calls to leave the government on Friday after the election left no single party with a clear claim to power just 10 days ahead of the start of Brexit negotiations.
Meanwhile, the dollar regained ground after former FBI director James Comey’s testimony on Thursday brought no surprising revelations.
Comey accused President Donald Trump of firing him to try to undermine his investigation into possible collusion by the Trump campaign team with Russia's alleged efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Sterling was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD climbing 0.53% to 0.8780.