Foreign exchange - Sterling hits day’s lows after dovish BoE minutes

© Reuters. Sterling lower after dovish BoE minutes curb rate hike expectations

Investing.com – The pound fell to session lows against the dollar on Thursday after indicated that interest rates are likely to remain on hold at record lows for longer.

was down 0.31% to 1.5134 from around 1.5187 earlier.

According to the , the majority of policymakers said low oil prices and subdued wage growth will keep a lid on inflation.

“There would need to be a sustained firming in domestic cost pressures, compared with current rates,” to push inflation back to the 2% target, officials said.

Inflation may turn positive in November, officials said, however “core inflation remains subdued.”

Most market players expect the BOE to begin slowly raising interest rates in mid-2016.

The Monetary Policy Committee voted eight-to-one to keep at 0.5%. Ian McCafferty, one of four external members on the nine-person MPC, voted to increase rates to 0.75%.

The euro pared back losses against sterling, with down 0.43% to 0.7229 after falling to lows of 0.7203 earlier.

The , which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.44% to 97.77.

The dollar moved broadly higher on Thursday after losses in the previous two sessions as investors turned their attention to next week’s Federal Reserve meeting amid expectations for an imminent rate hike.

Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned by expectations that the Fed is on track to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006 at its upcoming meeting on December 15-16.

Higher interest rates would make the dollar more attractive to yield-seeking investors.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data .

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.

Foreign exchange - Sterling hits day’s lows after dovish BoE minutes