Investing.com - Sterling was broadly lower on Thursday, despite having pared losses immediately following the release of decade-low UK public sector borrowing figures.
At 12:40 GMT, GBP/USD was down 0.19% to 1.3349.
The Office for National Statistics released public sector net borrowing data on Thursday, showing that the UK’s budget deficit was lower than expected in November.
Public sector net borrowing (excluding public sector banks) decreased by £0.2 billion to £8.7 billion in November, representing the lowest November net borrowing since 2007.
The ONS release is in line with the fiscal targets set out by Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the autumn budget announced in November. Borrowing is expected to total £49.9 billion by March 2018, the end of the 2017/8 tax year.
Brexit negotiations will move onto Phase 2 following resolution on the divorce bill, citizens’ rights and the Irish border. Despite some backlash from staunch Brexiteers in the Conservative party, this marks a step forward for Prime Minister Theresa May.
The Prime Minister’s party looks weakened once again, however, on the exit of May’s political ally Damian Green. Theresa May’s Conservative party has come under the scandal spotlight once more with the third dismissal of a Cabinet member in one month. It is not expected that the Prime Minister will announce a replacement.
The dollar sat near two and a half week lows, showing little reaction to the House of Representatives’ approval of tax reforms. The acceptance of the bill marks Donald Trump’s first legislative victory since becoming President.
The US dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six currency majors, was up 0.16% at 93.08.
Sterling was lower against the euro. The single currency struggled to make gains against most major currencies in lieu of data releases from the currency bloc on the last full day of trading before Christmas, and as the Spanish region of Catalonia goes to the polls.
EUR/GBP was almost unchanged at 0.8881. EUR/USD dropped 0.14% to 1.1855.
The pound was little changed against the safe haven currencies. GBP/JPY was 151.57, while GBP/CHF was up 0.11% to 1.3207.
Sterling was in the red against commodity currencies. GBP/NZD dipped 0.03% to 1.9066, while GBP/AUD was down 0.25% to 1.7403. GBP/CAD also lost 0.25% to sit at 1.7123.
Investors will be looking at third quarter growth figures released in the UK on Friday.