The
pound fell against the US dollar on Tuesday, hovering close to its weakest
level in six months, amid continuing concerns about Brexit, where the release
of upbeat U.K. data failed to provide support.
The GBPUSD
pair fell 0.50 percent to 1.2451, as of 09:38 GMT, following overnight losses
of 0.5 percent. Falling below 1.2397 may push the pound down to its lowest
level since April 2017 recorded at $1.2365.
Versus
the euro, the pound pushed the EURGBP pair higher to a top at 0.9041, the highest
level since January 11.
The
pound has come under pressure due to investors’ concerns that Boris Johnson
could win the Conservative leadership contest to become Britain's next Prime
Minister at the end of this month.
Data
released earlier today showing a more than forecast rise in U.K. wage growth to
the highest since 11 years in the quarter ended May and the stability of the unemployment
rate at its record low of 3.8 percent failed to provide support for the pound.
Meanwhile,
the U.S. dollar rose against major currencies in Tuesday's trading, ahead of
the release of U.S. retails sales and important speech by Fed Chair Jerome
Powell.
U.S.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expects U.S. Trade Representative Robert
Lazard to hold phone talks with Chinese partners this week.
The
United States and China agreed at the end of last month to resume trade talks
after they were suspended in early May.
The dollar index, which measures the performance of
the currency against six major currencies, rose 0.25 percent to 97.758.