The dollar found support on Thursday having weakened on lacklustre U.S. retail data, while the volatile pound was on edge as Britain and the European Union scrambled to secure a last-minute Brexit deal.
Sterling swung about a five-month high overnight, knocked around by a series of mixed headlines on the likelihood of progress at an EU leaders summit in Brussels later on Thursday.
It has surged some 5% since last week as negotiations stepped up, and sat in early Asian hours at $1.2816 per pound. The dollar was steady against most major currencies.
Against the Euro the pound also stood just under a five-month high at 0.8638 per euro.
The U.S. dollar had dropped on Wednesday as U.S. retail sales fell for the first time in seven months, painting a gloomy picture of the economy and making a case for rate cuts.
It was a touch weaker against the Euro at $1.1074 and the Japanese Yen at 108.69, but slightly stronger against the Australian and New Zealand dollars. Against a basket of currencies the dollar hit a month low of 97.898 overnight and was steady around that level on Thursday.
Source : Reuters