LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - Sterling rose against the
dollar and euro, while UK gilt yields and stocks fell on
Thursday after the Bank of England (BoE) raised interest rates
for the 11th consecutive time as it fights surging inflation.
As expected, the BoE raised rates by a quarter of a
percentage point to 4.25% and said it expects British inflation
to cool faster than before, despite a surprise jump in price
growth announced on Wednesday.
Sterling rose 0.4% to $1.2323 by 1218 GMT, after
touching a seven-week high earlier on. Versus the euro , it edged up 0.2% to 88.34 pence.
British government bonds, which were trading higher before
the decision, pared some of their price gains.
The 2-year gilt yield - which is sensitive to
interest rate expectations - was last down 9 basis points to
3.41%, having touched 3.371% earlier on. The 10-year yield was last down 2 bps at 3.436%. Yields move inversely
to prices.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 slightly extended losses and
was last down 0.9% on the day, from a 0.8% loss earlier.
(Reporting by the London Markets Team; Writing by Joice Alves;
Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)
