LONDON: The British pound was headed for its biggest weekly jump in 12 weeks against the US dollar on Friday, helped by easing domestic political risk and soft US labour market data.
Sterling was up 0.1 percent at USD1.3357, taking its weekly gain to 1.2 percent, its biggest weekly jump against the dollar since early April.
The dollar retreated after the US added fewer jobs than expected last month, cooling expectations for rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
British markets had shown signs of unease when Andy Burnham, the only Labour lawmaker to say he wants to replace outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer, gained support for a possible leadership challenge.
Burnham had previously stated that the country had to get “beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets”, worrying some investors that thought he would abandon the government’s borrowing pledges.
But markets have taken comfort from Burnham’s commitment to the country’s existing fiscal rules, which include balancing day-to-day spending with tax revenues and reducing debt as a share of output.
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