The pound held near the day's highs on Tuesday after the British economy created jobs at its strongest rate in nearly a year in the three months to November, potentially undermining the case for a Bank of England interest rate cut next week.

Expectations of a rate cut have been steadily building in recent weeks thanks to dovish comments from central bank policymakers and a raft of weak data but the latest jobs figures undermined some of those bets, prompting investors to wait for January manufacturing survey figures due on Friday.

The pound rose nearly half a percent to $1.3083, up from around $1.3010 before the data was released. Against the euro, sterling also added 0.4% to 84.94 pence.

It trimmed some of those gains in late afternoon trading but held near the day's highs.

Source : Reuters