Investors were also on guard after dramatic weekend events in Russia, though reaction in the currency market was subdued as they assessed the implications of the aborted mutiny.
The euro was nursing its losses from last week and was last up 0.07% at $1.0902 in Asia trade.
Flash Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data on Friday showed Britain's economy displayed signs of a slowdown this month but inflation pressures stayed high.
Elsewhere, the Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 143.27 per dollar, though was not far from an over seven-month low of 143.87 hit on Friday.
The offshore yuan languished near a seven-month low at 7.2162 per dollar.
Persons:
Sterling, Bank of England stoked, Carol Kong, Masato Kanda, Vladimir Putin's, CBA's, Rae Wee, Gerry Doyle
Organizations:
Bank of England, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, PMI, U.S, U.S ., Bank of Japan's, Thomson
Locations:
SINGAPORE, Russia, Asia, Europe, U.S, Russian, Rostov, Moscow, CBA's Kong, China, Beijing