The pound struggled for direction on Monday (8 August), remaining close to Friday's levels against both the euro and the dollar. The UK currency struggled to regain ground after the Bank of England cut interest rates last week.

As of mid-afternoon, sterling was 0.17% weaker against the euro at €1.1781 and broadly flat against the dollar, exchanging hands at $1.3062.

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"In a quieter week for domestic data announcements, UK industrial production and construction output data may have a limited impact for the pound as June's figures will still only partially reflect the impact of the EU referendum," said Chris Saint, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown currency service.

Elsewhere, the yen weakened for a second consecutive session against the dollar, with the latter still riding the wave of Friday's better-than-expected jobs report. The dollar, which unchanged against the euro, gained 0.61% against the Japanese currency to ¥102.44.

Data released at the end of last week showed that both payrolls and wages increased in the US in July, prompting renewed speculations that the US Federal Reserve could lift interest rates again in September.

"The US economy's problems - soft productivity, lack of fixed investment, modest real income growth and worrying levels of inequality - are still there, but the economy is still growing," said Kit Juckes, global head of FX strategy at Societe Generale.

"The market prices in almost 50% odds of a move [towards higher interest rates] by the end of the year, but the belief that it's better to wait than to tighten too early is intact."

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