Sterling slipped against the euro on Monday, edging away from last week's 8-1/2-month high in thin mostly technically-driven trading as investors waited for data that could show if more interest rate rises are on the way.
By 1425 GMT sterling had eased 0.2 percent to 67.47 pence against the euro, off Friday's peak of 67.17 pence. Against the dollar it stayed flat around $1.9062. It had hit a three-week high of $1.9092 on Thursday.
"Euro/sterling tried to break through 67.20 which has been the support in the past for that cross. It didn't make it, then it moved higher and continued that trend in a pretty quiet session," said Daragh Maher, currency strategist at Calyon.
Sterling failed to react to data on Monday showing construction activity accelerated in August to its fastest rate in five months despite a fall in British housebuilding activity, according to the Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply.
Against a basket of trade-weighted currencies the pound eased 0.29 percent to 103.1. It also pulled back from recent eight-year peaks against the yen, to hit one-week lows below 220 yen as solid capital spending data gave the Japanese currency a boost.