Sterling steadies after week of losses

By Patrick Graham

LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) - Sterling steadied on Tuesday, another round of warning signals on the economic impact of leaving the European Union not enough to extend a five-day losing streak against a broadly stronger U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . dollar.

The BRC retail sales survey showed spending was flat in April and new forecasts from the NIESR institute predicted the pound would slide 20 percent and growth fall by a full percentage point next year if Britain votes for to leave the EU in June.

That follows a move by money markets to price in a substantial chance of a cut in Bank of England interest rates by the end of the year, a reflection of concerns over what Brexit - or the turbulence caused by the vote alone - will do to growth.

The monthly trade gap also pointed to a vulnerability to further shocks, growing to the largest since 2008 and underlining how much the country is dependent on inflows of investment to balance the books.

"We have fallen for five days running and there's probably been some sort of a position unwind, plus the numbers this morning were fairly bearish," said Brenda Kelly, head analyst at retail brokers London Capital Group.

Sterling was just 0.1 percent higher at $1.4420 having fallen as low as $1.4375 on Monday. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) gained 0.25 percent to 78.79 pence per euro.

"Sterling is still on the back foot," said Tobias Davis, head of corporate treasury sales at Western Union in London. "The Brexit debate is still front and centre of people's minds."

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The pound fell to as low as $1.38 in the aftermath of the setting of a date for the referendum at the end of February but has proved more robust since.

The retreat from four-month highs last week came on the back of weak surveys of manufacturing, construction and services highlighted the economic risks posed by the vote. They indicated the economy was on track for quarterly growth of just 0.1-0.2 percent, down from 0.4 percent in the first quarter.

The BoE's monetary policy committee meets this week and the Bank, which has warned about the economic risks of Brexit, will release updated growth and inflation forecasts in a quarterly report on Thursday. Governor Mark Carney will address a news conference the same day.

The world's biggest staffing agency Adecco (VTX: ADEN.VX - news) said on Tuesday that speculation that Britain might vote to leave the 28-country bloc was hitting demand for highly skilled finance jobs. (editing by John Stonestreet)