There was little change for Sterling on Friday, not too far from a five-month high, as data revealed UK growth surpassed forecasts in November but remained muted over the past three months.

At the time of writing, the Pound was trading flat at $1.2753, near the $1.2825 level reached at the end of December, which was the highest seen since August.

Sterling has increased by around 0.3% this year after rising over 5% last year.

The UK economy grew 0.3% month-on-month in November, over the 0.2% forecast by economists, after falling 0.3% in October. However, output contracted 0.2% in the three months to the end of November, Reuters news agency reports.

In addition, Sterling was flat against the Euro, with the single currency trading at 85.95 pence. So far this year the Euro has declined 0.8% against the Pound.

Over the past few months, Sterling has benefited from inflation in Britain running hotter than the US and Europe. This has led traders to predict fewer Bank of England rate cuts than these two peers, bolstering UK bond yields and increasing the attractiveness of Sterling.

Traders now forecast around 125 basis points of interest rate cuts from the Bank of England next year, as per money market pricing

"We think the Pound will continue to appreciate gradually against the Dollar, as it becomes apparent the (BoE) won't reduce Bank Rate quite as quickly as markets currently anticipate," said Gabriella Dickens, senior UK economist at consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics.

"The general election, which will probably be held in the autumn, likely won't weigh materially on Sterling."

Furthermore, the US Dollar index, measuring the greenback against six major rivals, rose 0.14% at the time of writing to 102.35.