Sterling climbs to mid-2016 high versus dollar

Sterling rose nearly one percent in American trade to near 1.36 against the dollar, following a basket of data from the US, the world's largest economy, and amid a lack thereof from Britain. 

As of 04:00 GMT, GBP/USD rose 1.08% to 1.3684 from the opening of 1.3538, with an intraday low at 1.3535, and the highest since June 2016 at 1.3693. 

Earlier US data showed US retail sales rose 0.4% m/m in December, slowing down sharply from 0.9% in November, revised from 0.8%, while analysts expected a 0.5% increase. 

Core sales rose 0.4%, besting expectations of 0.3%, while still sharply down from November's 1.3% increase, revised from 1%.

 US consumer prices rose 0.1% in December in line with expectations, slowing down from 0.4% in November. 

Core prices, excluding food and fuel, rose 0.3% m/m, besting expectations of 0.2%, and up from November's 0.1% rise.