FX roundup: Brexit a gift that just keeps giving sterling weakness
Sterling turned in another grim pre-Christmas session on Thursday, with Brexit jitters more than offsetting well-received economic data and again among the factors undermining the British currency in the countdown to year's end.
At about 17:22 GMT, sterling was down 0.53% to $1.2287, and down 0.68% to €1.1770. The dollar-spot index was up 0.01% to $103.030.
While sterling managed a limp gain on the Canadian dollar, it was more convincingly down versus the Australian and New Zealand dollars, as well as South Africa's rand and Japan's yen.
"The pound remains under pressure ... despite the UK economy continuing to dodge signs of post-referendum economic weakness," said Monex Europe in a report out earlier on Thursday.
"The latest release showed the Confederation of British Industry private-sector growth index rising to the highest level in a year," Monex Europe said.
"The GfK Consumer Confidence index was released earlier today, and showed a significant improvement in the climate for the Major Purchases sub-index, although the consumer’s economic perspective continues to worsen."
Traders remain very wary of what a possible Brexit might look like -- regardless of the macro data out today -- and what it means for the UK economy going forward.
They are weary of endless jawboning from politicians and pundits, but are keenly focused on rising UK inflation.
In late June, a minority of the UK population voted for the country to quit the European Union, a shock non-binding outcome that has seen sterling humbled on the world's stage.
Many forex pundits reckon sterling might have further to fall yet.
Meantime, the US dollar was mixed on most major crosses. It was down 0.19% to €0.9575, and also slipped against the kiwi. The greenback made mild gains versus the loonie, safa and yen.
IG market analyst Joshua Mahony observed that the US economy was seemingly going from strength to strength.
"Today’s economic data points (were) largely better than expected," Mahony noted.
"A surprise jump in US GDP, to 3.5% in Q3, was the biggest news of the day, providing that despite the uncertainty surrounding the election, the US economy has proved remarkably resilient."
Monex added that the dollar was softer versus other G10 currencies, with trading volumes having already begin to decrease significantly ahead of the Christmas holiday.
"Sentiment-wise, the recent drop in crude oil prices has curbed inflation expectations, resulting in an increase in the price of treasuries, giving a boost to the dollar."