Sterling made substantial ground on the dollar yesterday as the BoE showed no sign of loosening montary policy further

Dollar selling in the market was stepped up with investors moving into the pound as the MPC minutes proved more positive than expected.

• The pound climbed over 1.66, posting a two and half cent gain against the dollar as the minutes from the Bank of England’s October monetary policy meeting struck a less dovish tone than recent comments suggested.
  
• Analysts said the most important story within the release was the fact that in the September meeting, governor Mervyn King thought an expansion of the central bank’s quantitative easing programme could be justified. But there was no mention of that in this latest meeting.
  
• Additionally, the pound was given further support after Mr King said in an opinion piece in Scotland’s Herald newspaper that, “it would be wise to take account” of the prospect of higher interest rates, heightening confidence in the UK economy.
  
• The dollar is up slightly in morning trading as a raft of Chinese data, though positive, failed to offer any major surprises, gaining in line with market expectations.