Sterling hits one-month high as BoE rate hike bets brought forward

LONDON: Sterling climbed close to $1.30 on Thursday, hitting its highest since before Britain's parliamentary elections, as investors brought forward their expectations for when the Bank of England would begin to tighten monetary policy.

Sterling strengthened to $1.2995 in early European trade, its strongest since May 25 against a broadly weaker dollar. Against a stronger euro it was flat at 88.0 pence .

BoE Governor Mark Carney said on Wednesday that a rise in interest rates was likely to be needed as the economy comes closer to running at full capacity, and that the Bank would debate this "in the coming months".