Investing.com - The pound was steady near two week highs against the dollar on Tuesday as concerns over slowing global growth continued to cloud market sentiment following lackluster third quarter growth data from China.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.6167, almost unchanged for the day after touching session highs of 1.6183, the most since October 9.
China’s economy grew at an annual rate of 7.3% in the three months to September, slightly higher than the 7.2% forecast by economists, but slowing from 7.5% in the second quarter.
It was the slowest rate of growth since the first quarter of 2009, in the midst of the global financial crisis.
The slowdown fuelled fears that China will miss its annual growth target of 7.5% and added to speculation that the government will need to roll out fresh stimulus measures to avert a sharper slowdown.
The weak data also added to concerns that weaker global growth could act as a drag on the U.S. economy, dampening dollar demand.
Sterling showed little reaction after data showed that U.K. public sector finances deteriorated in September.
The Office for National Statistics reports that U.K. public sector net borrowing was £11.8 billion in September, up £1.6 billion from the same month last year.
Demand for the pound continued to be underpinned as investors looked ahead to Friday’s data on U.K. third quarter growth after recent economic reports saw investors push back expectations for a rate hike to the second half of 2015.
Bank of England chief economist Andrew Haldane said Friday that he was in favor of keeping rates lower for longer due to uncertainties over the outlook for both domestic and global growth.
Elsewhere, sterling was fractionally lower against the euro, with EUR/USD edging up 0.10% to 0.7926.