The pound plummeted against the yen, euro and dollar during the early European trading session on Tuesday, after Britain announced that its economy had registered growth of just 0.1% in the last quarter of 2010.
The preliminary GDP figure was disappointing even though it signified the end of recession, since analysts had been expecting a much higher growth rate of 0.4%.
Following the news, sterling fell to 144.68 against the yen, hitting a 5-week low. GBP/JPY is likely to find support at around 143.74, the low of Dec. 18; the pair is likely to find resistance near 147.28, the daily high.
Meanwhile, EUR/GBP gained 0.276%, climbing to 0.8728, and the cable shed 0.655%, dropping to 1.6136.
In a statement, Britain’s Office of National Statistics said the rise in output was due to growth in services and production.