Investing.com - The pound staged a mini-recovery against the dollar and the euro on Thursday after data confirmed that the UK economy grew 0.3% in the second quarter.
GBP/USD was up 0.16% to 1.2823 by 07:10 AM ET (11:10 GMT) from around 1.2805 earlier.
Sterling initially edged lower after the Office for National Statistics reported that gross domestic product was unrevised from a preliminary estimate at 0.3% quarter-over-quarter and 1.7% on a year-over-year basis.
The service sector was the only positive contributor to GDP growth, increasing by 0.5% quarter-on-quarter.
The report showed that household spending increased by just 0.1% in the three month to June, down from 0.4% in the first quarter.
Business investment was flat during the quarter after a 0.6% increase in the first quarter.
"GDP growth has slowed markedly in the first half of the year," ONS statistician Darren Morgan said. "Household spending grew weakly, with the lower-value pound hitting household budgets."
Another report showed that UK retail sales growth fell to its lowest since since July 2016 this month.
Sterling was also higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP last down 0.27% to 0.9201 from 0.9211 earlier.
The euro rose to a high of 0.9235 against the pound on Wednesday, the highest level since October 2009, with the exception of last October’s ‘flash crash’ in the pound.
The euro has risen more than 7% against the sterling so far this year, reflecting the diverging economic outlook for the euro zone and the UK and its implications for monetary policy.
Sterling has been pressured lower by uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the deteriorating outlook for the economy.
On a trade weighted basis, sterling remained weaker. The UK Pound Sterling Index ticked up 0.27% to 74.8, but remained close to the trough of 74.6 set on Wednesday, which was the lowest level since November.