Investing.com - The pound slumped to session lows against the dollar on Thursday after data showing that retail sales rose less than expected in July, sparking concerns over the outlook for consumer demand.
GBP/USD was down 0.35% to 1.5624 from around 1.5651 ahead of the data.
The Office for National Statistics said retail sales rose just 0.1% last month and were up 4.2% from a year earlier, as auto fuel sales fell.
Economists had expected a monthly increase of 0.4% and an annual gain of 4.4%.
Core retail sales, which exclude fuel sales, were up 0.4% from a month earlier and rose 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Both figures were in line with expectations.
The U.K. economy is heavily reliant on consumer demand for growth.
Sterling was also lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP advancing 0.59% to 0.7130 from about 0.7106 earlier.
Sterling rallied earlier in the week, rising to seven-week peaks against the dollar after an uptick in inflation and comments by outgoing Bank of England policymaker David Miles who said Tuesday that a rate hike is coming "pretty soon".
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was last at 96.47, little changed for the day after tumbling 0.7% in the previous session.
The dollar remained on the defensive after Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve’s July meeting indicated that there was little consensus on when to start raising interest rates prompted investors to delay expectations for a rate hike.
The minutes showed that Fed officials believe the economy is nearing the point where interest rates should move higher, but noted that the subdued inflation outlook inflation and weakness in the global economy could still pose risks to the U.S. economic outlook.