Sterling sharpens decline despite dollar's retreat

Sterling kept falling on Thursday for the fourth straight session despite dollar's decline against a basket of currencies, as mounting negative pressures on the pound more than offset dollar's weakness.
 
GBP/USD last traded at 1.2148, down from the opening of 1.2174, with an intraday high at 1.2194, and a low at 1.2132.
 
Sterling's current decline comes amid expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike next week, nudging the pound towards a fourth weekly loss on a row.
 
Britain's finance minister Phillip Hammond authorized a budget for the 2017 financial year, upgrading growth forecasts for the current year while forecasting possible deterioration in the next years due to Britain's exit from the European Union, hurting the pound.
 
On the other hand, the dollar fell today for the first time this week against a basket of currencies following downbeat U.S. unemployment claims data that rose past expectations last week, but that didn't help the pound much due to growing pressures.