Sterling Edged up on Dollar Following Quantitative Easing

Sterling got a little stronger against the dollar on Friday, supported after the Bank of England raised its quantitative easing programme by less than many had forecast.

Thursday’s 25 billion pound increase in the BoE’s asset buying plan was less than some who predicted of 50 billion pounds The pound traded close to a two week high against a weak dollar. Head of currency research at Barclays Capital David Woo Said “clearly people are still trying to digest the news yesterday and to assess the implications for sterling of the end of QE.”

He went on to say “there is the question that if the Bank of England is buying fewer gilts, will that mean more foreign investors will be buying them?” Hope that U.S. employment data may show a slowing pace of jobs losses stoked some risk appetite and helped prod the safe-haven U.S. currency lower.

To read more on this story go to reuters.com.