Investing.com - The pound was mixed during holiday trading, a typically quiet spell for markets.
Sterling crept higher against the dollar on Wednesday to sit above the $1.34 level. At 12:30 GMT, GBP/USD was up 0.31% to 1.3416.
Growth data released on Friday showed that the UK economy grew 0.4% as expected in the third quarter.
Year-over-year, UK economic growth expanded 1.7% in Q3, up from the the forecast 1.5%. Second quarter growth was revised upward to 1.9% from 1.5%. The increase was the weakest since 2013, indicating that consumers are feeling the impact of higher inflation and weak wage growth.
The US dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies was 92.59, down 0.27% from the previous session close.
Investors will be looking at the release of consumer confidence in the US later in the afternoon.
Sitting at 0.8869, EUR/GBP was flat. While EUR/USD climbed 0.34% to 1.1898.
Sterling was higher against the traditional safe haven currencies. GBP/JPY rose by 0.30% to 151.90, while GBP/CHF was 1.3270, an increase of 0.28%.
The pound struggled against commodity currencies. GBP/AUD dipped 0.25% to 1.7264. GBP/NZD slipped 0.11% to 1.8977.
GBP/CAD dipped 0.12% to 1.6947.
On Thursday, Nationwide will release UK house price data, which will reflect the average change in house prices throughout the country. GfK consumer confidence will then be released on Friday, giving investors an idea of current consumer sentiment.
Markets will be closed in the UK on Monday 1 January for New Year’s Day.