LONDON: Sterling eased against a broadly stronger dollar on Tuesday, with no significant data releases on the economic calendar leaving analysts focused on the British government's forthcoming decision on fully reopening the economy.
The pound has been trading in a consolidation pattern against the dollar for three weeks now, largely caught in the $1.41-$1.42 range. Analysts say its recent movements have been largely dollar-driven, as strong incoming US economic data leaves investors skittish about potential tightening from the Federal Reserve.
By 1508 GMT, sterling was 0.2% lower to the dollar at $1.4148. Against the euro it was 0.2% lower at 86.10 pence.
Sterling is the second-best performing G10 currency against the dollar this year, lagging only the commodity-driven Canadian dollar, and has been propelled by bets on a faster reopening of Britain's economy on the back of its vaccination programme.
Those hopes have faded somewhat in recent weeks however, as rising cases of the Delta variant of Covid-19 first detected in India have led to calls from some scientists to push back the reopening date. "There aren't really any market-moving data releases this week in the UK, and expectations ahead of the government's announcement on 14 June on whether to go ahead with further easing of Covid-19 restrictions on 21 June may remain the main theme to follow," strategists at ING said in a note.
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