Pound currency trading continued to record its latest high with trading strengthening above the price level of 1.38000 against the greenback dollar, the highest since April 2018.
The increase was driven by an increase in UK bond yields following market optimism over a stronger economic recovery following the rapid launch of the Covid-19 vaccination in the country.
This was also supported by a statement by the Bank of England (BOE) which increased its outlook for economic growth to 7.25% from the previous forecast of 6.25%.
However, there were new concerns after UK officials warned that a new variant of the virus could thwart the progress of the vaccination campaign, and that short-term travel restrictions would be further tightened.
This follows previous reports that the AstraZeneca vaccine was reported to be less effective on the South African virus variant, where the effectiveness rate was only 22%.
In addition, the strengthening was supported by the weakness of the US dollar which fell to a two-week low, in line with the decline in US treasury yields as investors awaited news of a new stimulus package.
The weakness of the greenback dollar has given room for the euro to rise higher and return to trading above the price level of 1.21000.
Commodity-related currencies also rose against the USD, with the Canadian dollar backed by rising world crude oil prices supported by confidence in a recovery in global demand.
