LONDON, Feb 14 - Sterling was stuck almost a cent below recent three-week peaks against the dollar on Thursday, still feeling the blow from Wednesday's stronger than expected U.S. retail sales figures. The British currency was trading at $1.4275 at 0845 GMT, having hit highs of $1.4362 on Wednesday ahead of the U.S. data. Dealers said the euro's weak tone against the greenback had also hampered sterling's progress against the dollar, knocking it back after a week-long rally. "With nothing significant on the data calendar, sterling is likely to track moves in the euro/dollar rate," said Kamal Sharma, currency strategist at Commerzbank. "Weaker than expected German retail sales data is weighing on the euro, and this will cap sterling's progress against the dollar." Figures earlier on Thursday showed German retail sales slumped in December as consumers cut back spending because of rising unemployment. The bigger than expected decline contrasted with news on Wednesday that U.S. consumers were still spending freely. U.S. retail sales, stripping out cars, racked up their biggest gain since March 2000, lifting spirits on Wall Street and raising demand for the dollar. Sterling was little changed against the euro, changing hands at around 61 pence EURGBP= . U.S. weekly jobless claims are due later in the day, but dealers said more attention was focused on the release of U.S. industrial production data on Friday.