Pound Rises As Traders' Await BoE Rate Decision

The British pound strengthened against other major currencies in the European session on Thursday, as investors braced for the Bank of England's last meeting of the year later in the day.

The central bank is widely expected to hold rates at 4.75 percent after data showed a high rate of wage growth and inflation above the bank's 2 percent target.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut the key lending rate by 25 basis point as expected but revised its projections to signal just two interest rate cuts next year compared to the four previously forecast, citing stubbornly high inflation.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell's explicit - and repeated - references to the need for caution from here underscored investor concerns that Trump's fiscal, trade and tariff policies may fuel inflation and keep U.S. interest rates higher for longer.

The British sterling was trading slightly lower against its major rivals in the Asian trading today.

In the European trading now, the pound rose to a 1-1/2-month high of 198.73 against the yen and a 1-week high of 0.8228 against the euro, from early lows of 194.33 and 0.8254, respectively. If the pound extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 200.00 against the yen and 0.81 against the euro.

Against the Swiss franc and the U.S. dollar, the pound edged up to 1.1360 and 1.2658 from early lows of 1.1320 and 1.2567, respectively. The pound may test resistance around 1.14 against the franc and 1.30 against the greenback.

Looking ahead, Canada average weekly earnings data for October, U.S. weekly jobless claims data, U.S. Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for December, U.S. core PCE prices data for the third quarter, existing home sales for November, U.S. Consumer Board's leading index for November and U.S. Kansas Fed composite index for December are slated for release in the New York session.