LONDON: Sterling briefly dipped to session lows on Thursday while gilts edged up after a survey showed British services sector activity grew more slowly than expected in April.

UK services purchasing managers' index fell to 53.3 in April from 55.3 in March, below forecasts for a smaller drop to 54.2.

Sterling fell to the day's low of $1.6159 from around $1.6172 just before the data. It stopped short of reported stop loss sell orders below $1.6150, however, and recovered to trade last at $1.6168, down 0.2 percent on the day.

The euro also touched a high for the day of 81.405 pence after the data before dipping back to 81.30 pence.

Gilt futures edged higher after the data, briefly touching a 17-day high of 116.56, 19 ticks up on the day, but failed to sustain gains.