The central bank upwardly revised growth projections for 2014 to 3.4% from 2.8%. Inflation has declined unexpectedly to the 2% target, and BOE expects inflation to fall to 1.7% in March before moving back to 2% next year.
The British pound sterling touched a two-week high against the U.S. dollar as investors looked to rate hikes next year. According to J.C. Parets for All Star Charts, the British pound is testing a five-year resistance level at $1.659, with a short-term resistance level from October that date back to 2012 around $162.5 as a new found support. The CurrencyShares British Pound Sterling Trust (NYSEArca: FXB) was up 0.4% Thursday, and the ETF is 0.1% higher-year-to-date.
iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF
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Max Chen contributed to this article.