Sterling slips as manufacturing growth falls to 13-month low

The British pound edged lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday and was on track for a weekly loss of around 0.5%, as optimism surrounding peace talks in Ukraine faded, while UK manufacturing growth hit a 13-month low. "The EUR/GBP downtrend may continue in the coming days, and we think a return to 0.8300 remains likely in the near term."

The British pound edged lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday and was on track for a weekly loss of around 0.5%, as optimism surrounding peace talks in Ukraine faded, while UK manufacturing growth hit a 13-month low. The S&P Global/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 55.2 in March, revised down from a preliminary reading of 55.5 and below the 58.0 recorded in February.

At 0852 GMT, sterling was down 0.2% against the dollar to $1.3125. Against the euro, sterling was down 0.1% at 84.29 pence, after hitting a three-month low against the single currency on Thursday before recovering.

"It is another very quiet day in the UK data-wise, and there are no Bank of England speakers scheduled," ING analysts said in a research note. "The EUR/GBP downtrend may continue in the coming days, and we think a return to 0.8300 remains likely in the near term."