Sterling retreats for fifth straight session against dollar

Sterling fell for the fifth consecutive session away from June 24, 2016 highs, amid a lack of data from Britain, and following a basket of them from the US.

As of 04:51 GMT, GBP/USD fell 0.39% to 1.3945 from the opening of 1.4007, with a session-high at 1.4031, and the lowest since March 19 at 1.3937. 

Earlier US data showed the preliminary services PMI rose to 54.4 from 54 in March, beating forecasts of 54.3, while manufacturing PMI rose to 56.5 from 55.6 in March, beating expectations of 55.2. 

Existing home sales rose 1.1% in March to an annualized 5.60 million units, compared to a 3% rise in February to 5.54 million, beating expectations of a 0.2% rise to 5.55 million units.