Forex - GBP/USD holds steady on hawkish Fed, BoE comments

The pound traded lower against the dollar on Thursday but held steady as hawkish comments out of the Bank of England gave the pair some support despite hawkish comments out of the Federal Reserve coupled with solid U.S. data.

Cable was likely to find support at 1.6244, the low from Sept. 18, and resistance at 1.6418, Tuesday's high.In U.S. trading on Thursday, GBP/USD was down 0.23% at 1.6302, up from a session low of 1.6276 and off a high of 1.6343.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said earlier the time at which rate hikes kick in is "getting closer" but stressed a decision to tighten policy will depend on data and added the BOE does not have a pre-set course, words that cushioned the pound's losses against a firming dollar.

The U.S. Labor Department reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Sept. 20 rose by 12,000 to 293,000, up from the previous week's revised total of 281,000.

Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 19,000 to 300,000 last week, and the better-than-expected number drew applause for the greenback.

Separately, official data showed that U.S. durable goods orders dropped by 18.2% in August, after an increase of 22.5% in July, whose figure was revised down from a previously estimated gain of 22.6%. Analysts had expected durable goods orders to decline by 18.0% last month, and the in-line figure also gave the dollar room to firm.

Core durable goods orders, which are stripped of volatile transportation items, rose 0.7% last month, in line with expectations, after falling 0.5% in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.7% drop.

The dollar saw added support after Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher, a known inflation hawk, said the U.S. central bank may start raising benchmark interest rates around the spring of 2015, earlier than many market expectations.

While the Fed has suggested its bond-buying program could close in October, uncertainty remains as to when rate hikes may begin in 2015.

Elsewhere, sterling was up against the euro, with EUR/GBP down 0.09% at 0.7815, and down against the yen, with GBP/JPY down 0.49% at 177.31.

On Friday, markets will move on U.S. gross domestic product and consumer-sentiment data as well as a report on German consumer climate.

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Apple falls in heavy volume, but may find support

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc (O:AAPL) shares were tumbling on Thursday, with the tech company suffering one of its biggest daily declines of the year and breaking under key technical levels.

The stock was pressured after Apple pulled back an update to its new operation system, which some users complained had resulted in a drop in cellular service and an inability to use the fingerprint-reading Touch ID feature.

The issues, which Apple said it would fix in another software update to be released in the next few days, were the latest snag for the rollout of the company's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus lines. While the launch was hugely successful, with Apple shipping 10 million units in the first weekend, the large-screen device was also hit by claims that it could bend when placed in back pockets.

Shares lost 3 percent to $98.66, moving on volume of about 60 million shares, already ahead of their 50-day average of 56.46 million. The stock earlier fell as much as 4 percent, at one point breaking sharply below its 50-day moving average of $98.74.

Currently, Apple is holding at that level, suggesting it may serve as support against deeper losses. The stock hasn't closed below its 50-day moving average since April 23, though it remains well under its 14-day moving average.

© Reuters. Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

Apple is the biggest drag to both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500, where it is accounting for almost 3 points of the benchmark index's 26-point decline.

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