Sterling rises against dollar despite weak British data

British pound rose against US dollar during trading today as the British currency benefited from the wide decline of its US counterpart after the testimony of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, despite the weak data from the UK's industrial sector.

Market speculations has increased about the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates soon after comments by its chairman, Jerome Powell, before the US House of Representatives, in which he spoke about the risks and uncertainties surrounding the economy that affect it negatively.

On the other hand, government data showed that UK industrial production fell by 1.4% last month, and the manufacturing activity also declined by 1.4% in the same month, while the services index rose by 0.3%, and the trade balance of goods recorded a deficit of 11.5 billion pound.

In terms of trade, by 19:04 GMT, GBP/USD rose by 0.4% to 1.2508, and recorded a high of 1.2521 and a low of 1.2444.