The British pound was little changed on Friday as doubts about whether Prime Minister Theresa May could reach a Brexit agreement with her political opponents pressured the currency, while traders prepared for March economic growth numbers.
According to a Reuters poll of economists, Britain’s economy is not expected to have grown in March, after expanding 0.2% in February.
Momentum in the British economy has slowed in 2019 as uncertainty related to how and when Britain will leave the European Union has weighed on business investment. But the economy has also proven resilient, with British consumers continuing to spend.
Sterling on Thursday dropped to $1.2967, its weakest in May, pushed lower by media reports that talks between the ruling Conservative and opposition Labour parties to agree a Brexit deal had run into the sand.
The government, after delaying Brexit until the end of October, wants to put its repeatedly-rejected withdrawal agreement to parliament.
The pound was little changed at $1.3002, while against the euro it fell 0.1% to 1.1583.