Sterling held within recent trading ranges on Friday in line with a quiet mood on global currency markets, briefly hitting a one-week low versus the euro. Data showed the British economy grew more quickly in the second quarter of 2005 than originally estimated, but the rise in consumer spending slowed to its weakest annual pace in more than a decade.
Second-quarter growth was revised up a tenth of a point to 0.5 percent after a 0.4 percent gain in the first three months of the year. That took the annual rate of expansion up to 1.8 percent, its weakest in three years.
At 1415 GMT sterling traded 0.2 percent higher on the day against the dollar at $1.8071. It was steady at 68.16 pence per euro, after falling to 68.32 earlier in the session.
"Sterling is going to be under pressure, especially against the euro," said Ian Stannard, currency strategist at BNP Paribas in London.
"The overall picture in Europe is of improvement and that contrasts with the UK."
Trading was quiet ahead of a long weekend in the UK with a Bank Holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on Monday.
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