On Friday, the pound rose against the US dollar, yet growth is expected to be limited after the release of ambiguous economic UK data as demand for the dollar as a whole is maintained.
During European morning trade, GBP/USD reached 1.4306, its highest since January 19; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4284, rising 0.46%.
The pair was likely to receive support at 1.4078, Thursday and at seven-year low, and resistance at 1.4341, the high of January 19.
UK Office for National Statistics reported that retail sales in December fell 1.0%, confounding expectations for a 0.3% decline, after a revised increase of 1.3% in the previous month.
In annual terms, retail sales rose 2.6% last month, confounding forecasts growth of 4.3%. The base index of retail sales, excluding cars and fuel, fell 0.9% in December, more than the expected decline of 0.3%, following a revised increase of 1.3% in November.
A separate report showed that net public sector borrowing rose in December to 6.87 billion pounds, less than the expected increase of 10.35 billion pounds. The volume of borrowing of the public sector rose 12.94 billion pounds in November, the figure being revised up from the previously projected growth at 13.56 billion pounds.
Meanwhile, the discrepancy between the rates of the monetary policy of the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve continue to support the dollar.
The US dollar strengthened positions after ECB President Mario Draghi said that the regulator "would need to review and possibly re-think" its monetary policy in Match meeting, when there will be fresh economic forecasts.
On Friday morning, Draghi said that the Bank has "sufficient tools" for the achievement of price stability in the Eurozone.
The pound was also higher against the euro; EUR/GBP pair fell 0.73% to 0.7590.
Earlier on Friday, Markit research group said that German index of purchasing managers in manufacturing in January fell to 52.1 from 53.2 in the previous month. PMI in the service sector in Germany fell from 56.0 to 55.4.
The index of business activity in the manufacturing sector in France fell this month to 50.0 from 51.4 in December, while the services PMI rose to 50.6 from 49.8.
The composite purchasing managers' index (production and services) dropped to 53.5 in January from 54.3 in December.