The UK's sterling slipped against most of its major counterparts in the early Asian session on Tuesday. The pound dropped to a 4-day low of 0.8676 against the euro as well as drifted lower to 1.4786 against the greenback and 134.64 against the Japanese yen by 8:00 pm ET. The pound that closed Monday's North American deals at 1.4902 versus the greenback, 136.32 versus the yen and 0.873 against the euro is presently trading at 1.4806, 135.05 and 0.8680, respectively.
In economic news, sentiment in Great Britain's residential property market declined in January as housing sales fell to an all-time low. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said today that its market survey declined 2.4 percent to 76.3 from a revised December reading of 73.9.
At the same time, retail sales in Great Britain improved in January despite the economy in recession. The British Retail Consortium said today that overall retail sales for January increased 3.2 percent compared to January 2008, while same-store sales were higher by 1.1 percent.
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