Sterling slips below 1.4 versus dollar ahead of Fed's minutes

Sterling tilted lower in American trade away from February 5 highs for the fourth straight session against the dollar, following earlier data from Britain and the US, the world's largest economy, and ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes. 

As of 04:26 GMT, GBP/USD fell 0.19% to 1.3969 from the opening of 1.3996, with a one-week low at 1.3932, and a session-high at 1.4015. 

Earlier UK data showed the unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in the three weeks ending in December from 4.3%, while average wages rose 2.5% in line with expectations. 

UK jobless claims fell by 7.2 thousand, compared to a 6.2K increase in the previous reading, while analysts expected a 2.3K rise. 

Net public borrowing rose to 11.6 billion pounds, compared to a surplus of 0.3 billion in January. 

Otherwise, earlier US data showed positive flash readings for both manufacturing and services PMIs, while existing home sales fell unexpectedly in January. 

Investors now await the Federal Reserve's minutes of the January 30-31 meeting, at which policymakers votes to hold interest rates unchanged between 1.25% and 1.5%.