CURRENCIES: Pound Slides After BOE Keeps Rates At Record Low

Dollar rebounds slightly

The pound moved sharply lower on Thursday after the Bank of England kept interest rates at a record low, and struck a downbeat tone on wages and economic growth.

Sterling slid to $1.3155, after hitting $1.3267 earlier in the day in the wake of a better-than-expected reading on U.K. services activity (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-services-sector-grows-modestly-2017-08-03) in July.

The pullback came as investors assessed the BOE's rate decision, monetary policy statement and quarterly inflation report -- the "Super Thursday" trio of simultaneous releases. The central bank voted 6-2 to keep the key interest rate at a record low of 0.25% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bank-of-england-holds-key-rate-at-025-in-6-2-vote-pound-drops-2017-08-03), arguing that economic growth "remains sluggish in the near term as the squeeze on households' real incomes continues to weigh on consumption."

The central bank in its inflation report cut its 2017 gross domestic growth forecast to 1.7% from the 1.9% predicted in May. It also reduced its forecast for growth in 2018 to 1.6%, from 1.7%.

The policy makers said U.K. wage growth is expected to "remain subdued" for the rest of the year.

Read:Confusion reigns for investors ahead of Bank of England's 'Super Thursday' (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/confusion-reigns-for-investors-ahead-of-bank-of-englands-super-thursday-2017-08-01)

In other currencies, the dollar rebounded slightly on Thursday. The ICE Dollar Index gained 0.12 to 93.01 after trading around a 15-month low on Wednesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-languishes-at-15-month-low-with-adps-jobs-report-waiting-in-the-wings-2017-08-02). Traders are looking ahead to Friday's closely watched nonfarm-payrolls report.

See:Ignoring Washington chaos, companies likely kept up strong hiring in July (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ignoring-washington-chaos-companies-likely-kept-up-strong-hiring-in-july-2017-07-30)

The euro fell to $1.1845, down from a more-than-two-year high of $1.1857 late Wednesday in New York.

The dollar fell against the yen , buying Yen110.44 compared with Yen110.74 on Wednesday.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 03, 2017 07:44 ET (11:44 GMT)