Growth reading cold comfort to battered sterling

* Sterling still suffering from Carney flip-flop on rates outlook

* Helped on margin by confirmation of strong Q2 growth

* At risk from U.S. data later on Friday

By Patrick Graham and Anirban Nag

LONDON/WARSAW, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Sterling headed for a sixth straight weekly loss against the dollar on Friday as doubts over the chances of a near-term rise in interest rates put it on course for its longest losing streak in five years.

After sinking as much as 1 percent over the past two days, the pound regained a foothold against the dollar in early European deals, taking some meagre support from confirmation of Britain's robust economic performance in the second quarter.

But with the day's main focus a raft of U.S. data that could add to the picture of a solidifying recovery there, traders and analysts said the pound was at risk of another push higher for the dollar.

"After the week it's had, it had been odds-on we would take a breather (on sterling) this morning," said one currency trader with a large international bank in London. "But there are certainly still risks out there today from the U.S. numbers."

"Overall, I'd say you need to remember how far this sell-off has come. At the start of this week a lot of people were starting to see value in the pound again, and we're a cent lower since then."

The pound inched up by less than 0.1 percent to $1.6698, having hit a four-month low of $1.6657 on Thursday. The euro fell by around the same amount to 80.165 pence, off the previous day's six-week high. If the pound ends the week lower it will be the first time it has fallen against the dollar for six consecutive weeks since the fourth quarter of 2009.

Sterling had been the best performer by far among major currencies in the year to the start of July, driven higher by expectations the Bank of England could start raising interest rates to cool the economy as soon as this November.

Governor Mark Carney doused any such expectations in his reading of the outlook along with the BoE's latest inflation report on Wednesday, prompting markets to push back pricing for the first rise into the first quarter of next year.

The first detailed read-out of second quarter gross domestic product on Friday again showed an economy expanding healthily, but did little to quell the doubts over whether that is generating any upward pressure on wages and inflation.

"The GBP has suffered this week as a more cautious message from the BoE undercut stretched GBP longs," analysts from BNP (Paris: FR0000131104 - news) Paribas said in a note to clients.

"Sterling could still see more downside as the dollar regains momentum, but current levels against the euro are attractive for considering re-entering GBP shorts, especially ahead of next week's Bank of England minutes which could possibly highlight a dissenter on the policy committee." (Reporting by Patrick Graham in Warsaw and Anirban Nag in London, editing by Nigel Stephenson)