Sterling on track for weekly gains after BoE meeting

Sterling rose in European trade for the fifth straight session against dollar on track for the first weekly profit in three following the Bank of England's meeting, bolstering the case for negative rates for the first time in UK history. 

GBP/USD rose 0.15% to 1.2994, after closing up 0.1% yesterday for the fourth session on hopes for a UK-EU trade deal. 

Sterling is up 1.5% so far this week on track for the first weekly profit in three. 

The dollar index fell 0.1% on Friday for the second session under pressure from pessimistic US data. 

The BoE voted to maintain rates at 0.10% and the assets purchases program at 745 billion pound a month. 

However, the bank opened the door for the first time to apply negative rates to counter the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic and Brexit.