Sterling moved off a one-month low against the euro on Thursday after upbeat British factory output data, but showed little reaction to the Bank of England's decision to leave interest rates unchanged.
The BoE kept rates at 4.5 percent for the seventh month running, a decision widely expected by financial markets.
The pound erased early losses against the euro after the data showing British industrial output rose more than expected and for the third month running, marking the longest period of expansion in nearly four years. "The manufacturing numbers were OK, with an upward revision to the previous month but it's still soft stuff. Rate expectations are going to be driven by news about the consumer," said Ian Gunner, head of foreign exchange research at Mellon Bank.
By 1455 GMT, sterling was trading at 68.56 pence per euro. It was flat on the day after falling as far as 68.77 pence, its weakest since February 10, earlier in the session in the wake of weak shop price data released on Wednesday.
The pound was also unchanged against the dollar at $1.7390.
The Office for National Statistics said industrial output rose by 0.4 percent in January versus analysts' expectations of a rise of 0.2 percent on the month.
Output had not risen for such an uninterrupted period since May 2002. However, it was still 1.3 percent lower than a year earlier.
Trade figures showed the goods trade deficit narrowed to 5.727 billion pounds. But the non-EU balance gap widened to a record high of 3.678 billion pounds.
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