Pound falls on weak industrial production data

The British pound fell against the US dollar on Friday, after the release of weak economic data, and the lingering impact of the coronavirus crisis.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson re-imposed lockdown restrictions in the country from January to mid-February to curb the coronavirus outbreak.

Data showed today that the UK's industrial production index fell 0.1% in December, worse than forecasts of a rise by 0.5%, while the manufacturing production index rose by 0.7%, lower than expectations of 1%.

The UK's GDP contracted by 2.6% in December, better than forecasts of a contraction by 4.6%.

As of 20:21 GMT, GBP/USD fell 0.8% to 1.3582, after hitting a high of 1.3699, and a low of 1.3574.