Investing.com - The pound was little changed against the dollar on Tuesday after data showed that U.K. industrial output was flat in August, adding to signs that the economic recovery may be moderating.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.6092 following the release of the data, from around 1.6078 earlier.
The Office of National Statistics reported that U.K. factory output was flat in August, falling short of expectations of a 0.2% increase. On a year-over-year basis, industrial output was up 2.5%.
Manufacturing production was up 0.1% in August, in line with forecasts, but expanded at an annual rate of 3.9%.
A report last week showed that output in the U.K. manufacturing sector slowed to a 17 month low in September, as demand from the euro area weakened and the stronger pound weighed.
The dollar remained steady against the other major currencies after Monday’s declines, as investors took profits on the strong gains the greenback posted Friday from a robust U.S. jobs report.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.11% to 86.00, holding below Friday’s four year peaks of 86.79.
Elsewhere, sterling was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP down 0.22% to 0.7850.
The single currency fell to session lows after data earlier showed that industrial output in Germany dropped by 4.0% in August. It was the largest decline since early 2009 and was much worse than forecasts for a fall of 1.5%.
The report came one day after data showed that German factory orders fell 5.7% in August, fuelling fears that the euro area’s largest economy is falling into a recession.