Forex - GBP/USD gains on U.K. jobs data, Federal Reserve uncertainty

A better-than-expected U.K. jobs report for May sent the pound firming against the dollar to highs not seen since February on Wednesday.

In U.S. trading on Wednesday, GBP/USD was trading at 1.5684, up 0.25%, up from a session low of 1.5634 and off from a high of 1.5700.

The pair was likely to find support at 1.5496, Monday's low, and resistance at 1.5810, the high from Feb. 10.

In the U.K. earlier, official data revealed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits fell to its lowest level in two years in May.

The Office for National Statistics said that the claimant count in the U.K. fell by 8,600 in May, better than expectations for a decline of 5,000 people.

The unemployment rate remained steady at 7.8% in April, in line with expectations.

The numbers sent the pound gaining while monetary uncertainty in the U.S. sent the greenback falling.

A Bank of Japan decision earlier this week to leave monetary policy unchanged after months of stimulus sparked concerns the Federal Reserve may follow suit, though uncertainty over such a possibility roiled markets and weakened the dollar.

The U.S. is to release weekly data on jobless claims on Thursday alongside official data on retail sales, and uncertainty as to what impact the numbers will have on expectations for the Federal Reserve to scale back stimulus programs also took its toll on the dollar on Wednesday.

The pound, meanwhile, was up against the euro and down against the yen, with EUR/GBP trading down 0.09% at 0.8502 and GBP/JPY down 0.06% at 150.16.

On Thursday, investors will trade on U.S. retail sales and weekly jobless claims figures.