At the end of a bad week for sterling, the pound took advantage of a slightly weaker dollar Friday afternoon to recover some of this week’s losses.
The pound, which has taken a beating in recent weeks, stood at $1.8243 in late afternoon trading. On Thursday, sterling had hit a fresh two-year low of $1.8240 against the greenback following disappointing UK data on house prices and retail sales.
The dollar, while still strong, was under pressure Friday over oil supply concerns as Tropical Storm Gustav headed for the Gulf of Mexico.
The pound was also down against the euro, falling to a four-month low against the eurozone currency.
| Sterling | 15:54 BST | Thursday close |
| Euro | 1.2393 down from | 1.2441 |
| US dollar | 1.8243 down from | 1.8285 |
| Yen | 198.25 down from | 200.18 |
| Swiss franc | 2.0034 down from | 2.0092 |