Sterling hits one-month high at $1.5290

LONDON: Sterling hit its highest against the dollar for a month on Thursday, extending gains made on the back of an unexpected rise in housing data.

The pound rose as high as $1.5290, its strongest since Jan. 5.

It was sterling's third successive day of gains against the dollar. Earlier mortgage lender Halifax said house prices unexpectedly spiked in January, recording their biggest monthly increase since May 2014.

Prices rose 2.0 percent last month, up from a 1.1 percent in December and outstripping the 0.1 percnet average invcrease forecats in a Reuters poll.