The British pound weakened against the other major currencies in the European session on Friday, after data showed that the British manufacturing sector growth eased unexpectedly in April.

Data from Markit Economics showed that U.K. Purchasing Mangers' Index, or PMI, fell to 51.9 in April from 54.0 in March, which was revised down from 54.4. Economists had expected the index to rise to 54.6.

In other economic news, data from the Bank of England showed that U.K. mortgage approvals unexpectedly declined in March, after rising in the previous three months. U.K. mortgage approvals.

The number of loan approvals for home purchase fell to 61,341 from a six-month high of 61,523 in February. Economists had expected a higher figure of 62,500. In January, mortgage approvals were 60,503.

Consumer credit grew by GBP 1.2 billion from the previous month to GBP 170.2 billion. That exceeded the GBP 0.8 billion increase forecast by economists.

The report also said that M4 money supply grew 0.3 percent month-on-month in March following a 0.2 percent fall in February. On a year-on-year basis, M4 declined 0.6 percent after a 3.2 percent slump in the previous month.

Meanwhile, traders are more cautions ahead of next week's U.K. general election, as uncertainty prevails.

In the Asian trading, the Pound held steady against its major rivals.

In the European trading today, the pound fell to more than a 3-week low of 0.7361 against the euro, a 10-day low of 1.4234 against the Swiss franc and a 3-day low of 1.5283 against the U.S. dollar from early highs of 0.7299, 1.4358 and 1.5396, respectively. If the pound extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.75 against the euro, 1.40 against the franc and 1.48 against the greenback.

Pulling away from an early near a 2-month high of 184.46 against the yen, the pound edged down to 183.09. On the downside, 180.10 is seen as the next support level for the pound.

Looking ahead, Canada and U.S. manufacturing PMI for April, U.S. construction spending data for March and U.S. Reuters/University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment index for April are due to be released in the New York session.

At 8:30 am ET, U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester will deliver a speech on "Issues in Consumer Credit" before the Conference on Regulating Consumer Credit in Philadelphia.

Subsequently, San Francisco Fed President John Williams is expected to speak on "Monetary Policy in Financial Markets: Is there a New Paradigm?" before the Chapman University Conference in Orange, United States at 3:45 pm ET.

Most markets in Asia and Europe are closed in observance of the Labor Day holiday.

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