Friday, 28 August 2015 17:38
LONDON: Sterling inched up against the dollar on Friday, recovering from the previous day’s 1 1/2-month lows after data showed UK growth was underpinned by robust exports and business investments in the second quarter.
Sterling hit a high of $ 1.5427, up 0.2 percent, after the data, from $ 1.5400 beforehand. It had fallen to $ 1.5370 on Thursday after data showed the United States expanded much faster in the second quarter than previously estimated, boosting a view that US interest rates could rise this year.
The pound trimmed gains against the euro to trade at 73.22 pence per euro, having traded at 73.33 beforehand.
The Office for National Statistics said UK gross domestic product rose by 0.7 percent in the second quarter of this year, confirming a preliminary reading, as expected.
Business investment rose 2.9 percent on the quarter, the highest in a year while net trade boosted gross domestic product by 1.0 percentage point on the quarter, the biggest contribution from trade in four years, as exports jumped.
