Sterling steadied against the dollar and the euro on Wednesday, as markets anticipated a moderate quarter-point British interest rate rise this week.
The Bank of England concludes its two-day monthly policy meeting on Thursday and is widely expected to raise rates for the fifth time since last November to 4.75 percent.
Sterling shrugged off data showing a slowing of growth in Britain's dominant services sector in July and mixed data on the housing market, a key indicator for the Bank of England. "Sterling has got tired of the idea of a 50 basis point rate hike this week or a more hawkish than expected statement from the BoE," said Paul Robson, currency strategist at RBS Financial Markets.
"This week's data has been largely irrelevant for this week's policy meeting."
Sterling was trading at $1.8221 at 1440 GMT, down nearly 0.2 percent from the US close, and steady against the euro at 66 pence.
Sterling was quoted at 106.40 on its trade-weighted index, in the middle of recent ranges.
The Halifax House Price Index on Wednesday showed house prices up 1.3 percent in July to stand 22.1 percent higher in the latest three months from a year ago.
However, the monthly rise remained well below the average monthly increase of over 2 percent during the preceding six months.
Meanwhile, property website Rightmove.co.uk said house prices fell a non-seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent in the three weeks to the end of July, leaving them 17.6 percent higher than a year ago.
The CIPS/Reuters service sector index fell to 56.2 in July, from 56.8 in June.