The Great Britain pound advanced today after the gauge of the construction industry increased, adding to evidences of steady economic growth in the United Kingdom and increasing chances for an interest rate hike next year. The currency reached the highest rate since 2011 against the US dollar.
Seasonally adjusted construction output rose by 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013. It was down 0.3 percent according to the estimate published last month. The positive data goes hand in hand with the optimistic outlook for the UK economy and speculations about higher interest rates.
The pound rallied on the news and was especially strong versus the US dollar due to poor economic reports from the United States. The sterling also demonstrated solid gains versus the euro even though the shared 17-nation currency was pretty strong by itself.
GBP/USD advanced from 1.6657 to 1.6733 as of 17:55 GMT today, trading near the strongest rate since May 2011. EUR/GBP dropped from 0.8210 to 0.8185. GBP/JPY rose from 170.17 to 170.36 after falling to the low of 169.11 earlier.
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