At 2.00 am ET Friday, the Office for National Statistics releases UK public sector finances and retail sales figures. Economists forecast UK retail sales to grow at a much slower pace of 0.1 percent on month in October after expanding 1.5 percent in September.

Ahead of the data, the pound advanced against its major rivals.

The pound was worth 1.3280 against the greenback, 137.81 against the yen, 1.2082 against the franc and 0.8950 against the euro as of 1:55 am ET.

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