At 2.00 am ET Friday, the Office for National Statistics is slated to issue UK retail sales data for August. Sales are forecast to grow 0.7 percent on month, slower than the 3.6 percent rise seen in July.

Ahead of the data, the pound held steady against its major rivals.

The pound was worth 1.2965 against the greenback, 135.86 against the yen, 1.1779 against the franc and 0.9142 against the euro as of 1:55 am ET.

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