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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Pound hits 26-year US dollar high | Pound hits 26-year US dollar high |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| The UK pound has hit its highest level against the US dollar in 26 years. | The UK pound has hit its highest level against the US dollar in 26 years. |
| The move comes as investors bet that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this week. | The move comes as investors bet that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this week. |
| That would help strengthen the pound as higher interest rates in the UK would attract inflows of funds keen to benefit from better rates of return. | That would help strengthen the pound as higher interest rates in the UK would attract inflows of funds keen to benefit from better rates of return. |
| The pound rose as high as $2.066 in earlier trading, before paring gains slightly to $2.064. The pound also gained against the euro. | The pound rose as high as $2.066 in earlier trading, before paring gains slightly to $2.064. The pound also gained against the euro. |
| Many analysts expect the Federal Reserve, the US version of a central bank, to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday in an attempt to limit the impact of a housing market slowdown. | |
| The Fed has already cut its main interest rate to 4.75% last month after problems in the housing market were seen to be spreading to the wider economy. | |
| House prices have been falling and the number of foreclosures has surged in recent months after the Fed raised rates in an attempt to slow inflation. | |
| While inflation has been a problem in previous months, many analysts now say that the biggest worry is consumers reining in their spending. | |
| Should that happen, they argue, then the US economy could splutter into a recession. |