The pound has peaked and will come under pressure in the coming months as the housing market stumbles and consumer resilience fades, according to HSBC.

The bank has joined a growing chorus of City analysts who are becoming increasingly bearish on sterling, which has been the best-performing G10 currency this year.

Dominic Bunning, head of European foreign exchange research at HSBC, said weak retail sales data last week raised alarm bells over the sustainability of sterling’s rally, which saw the pound hit $1.31 in July.

Mr Bunning said: “The consumer resilience that we saw helping to drive the pound higher earlier this year appears to be fading slightly earlier than we expected.

“We have been bullish on the pound since November last year, with a forecast it would hit $1.30. Having breached that level – briefly – last month, risks are building that it may now represent the peak in the currency rather than a more sustainable level beyond the end of the drizzly summer.”

So far this year, the pound has climbed 5.3pc against the dollar to $1.27 and 3.5pc on the euro at €1.13.