The euro slipped against the dollar and the pound on Wednesday as worries about the outlook of the euro zone economy weighed on the single currency while sterling edged higher before a no-confidence vote on Prime Minister Theresa May's government.

Prime Minister Theresa May's government faced the vote on Wednesday after the crushing defeat of her Brexit divorce deal by parliament left Britain’s exit from the European Union in disarray just 10 weeks before it is due to leave.

Though the pound had sunk more than 1 percent against the dollar earlier on Tuesday, it rallied back after the parliamentary vote, with the sizable defeat for May seen forcing Britain to pursue different options.

As a consequence, the single currency fell as much as 0.3 percent against the pound hitting a seven-week low of 88.44 pence.

The euro had already been hit earlier this week, as data showed Germany barely escaped a recession in the second half of 2018 and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi warned the euro zone economy was weaker than expected.

The dollar eased 0.1 percent to 108.56 yen after advancing 0.5 percent against its Japanese peer overnight amid a further ebb in risk aversion with U.S. stocks posting strong gains.

The Swiss franc, which tends to gain in times of political tensions and market turmoil along with the yen, was flat at 0.9879 franc per dollar.

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was marginally lower at 95.982 after climbing almost 0.5 percent the previous day, when it brushed an 11-day high of 96.261.

The Australian dollar was flat at $0.72055 after dipping 0.2 percent on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters