The UN General Assembly will also look to build momentum to reach an ambitious climate agreement and seek unity after the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan
Profit-taking added to the cautious start to the day with some of the wind appearing to have come out of buyers' sails, having pushed valuations up for more than a week
The Australian leader said the planes delivering Pfizer vaccine doses were "on the tarmac" in the UK and would deliver "four million doses of hope" within weeks
Sterling has traded largely in line with global risk sentiment in financial markets in recent weeks, tracking the direction of world stock markets higher or lower.
Brent crude was down 53 cents, or 0.7 pc, at $71.47 a barrel by 1:25 p.m. EDT (1725 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate oil declined 35 cents to $68.01 a barrel, snapping a three day rally.
U.S. crude inventories fell by 3 million barrels in the last week to 432.6 million barrels, the EIA said, about 1pc higher than during the same time in 2019, before the pandemic.