Sterling climbs above 1.4 against dollar as eyes fixed on Fed

Sterling rose against the dollar in American trade, following earlier data from Britain and the US, while markets await the Federal Reserve's policy decisions later today. 

As of 02:38 GMT, GBP/USD rose 0.54% to 1.4074 from the opening of 1.3998, with an intraday high at 1.4079, and a low at 1.3997. 

Earlier UK data showed the unemployment rate in three months ending January fell to 4.3% from 4.4%, while average wages accelerated to 2.8% from 2.7%, beating forecasts of 2.6%, as jobless claims rose 9.2 thousand, compared to a 1.6K drop in the previous reading. 

Public Sector Net Borrowing shrank to 0.3 billion pounds in February from 11.7 billion in January, while the CBI Industrial Order Expectations index slowed down to 4 from 10 in February, missing forecasts of 9.  

UK trade minister Fox said that Britain will continue to dominate financial services after exiting the EU, asserting that Britain seeks to free trade with the US, while markets now await Bank of England's policy meeting tomorrow, expected to hold interest rates unchanged at 0.50%, and the assets purchase program at 435 billion pounds.  

Otherwise, earlier US data showed the trade deficit widened to $128.2 billion from $101.5 billion in the third quarter, missing expectations of a $125B deficit, while existing home sales rose 3% in February to an annualized 5.54 million units, compared to a 3.2% drop in January to 5.38 million, while analysts expected a 0.4% rise to 5.41 million. 

Now investors await the results of the FOMC's meeting today under new Chair Jerome Powell, as analysts expect policymakers to hike interest rates to between 1.50% and 1.75%, while unveiling their three-year forecasts for growth, inflation, unemployment, and interest rates.