Investing.com - The pound rebounded on Thursday following better than expected retail sales figures for June.
At 09:00 GMT, sterling was up 0.40% against the dollar at 1.2481.
The British pound fell to its lowest level since April 2017 on Wednesday, reaching 1.2382 as fear mounted over the prospect of a no deal Brexit in little over three months time.
The new Prime Minister of the U.K. will be announced on Monday 22 July and both candidates have voiced their opposition to the Irish backstop, increasing the chances of a hard Brexit.
Boris Johnson, favourite to become the next PM, has pledged to leave the European Union on 31 October even if it means scrapping a transition agreement, which is in place to protect both the U.K. and EU economies from the impact of the divorce.
Retail figures for June suggest that U.K. consumers are continuing to spend, despite ongoing political drama and a worsening economic outlook.
According to the Office for National Statistics, retail sales in June grew by 1.0% month-over-month beating consensus of a 0.3% decline.
Compared with the same period the previous year, sales increased by 3.8% in June, better than the forecast 2.6%.
The pound made smaller gains against the single currency, with EUR/GBP down 0.23% to 0.9005.