2014.11.1923:14:46UTC+00British pound escalates after 2 policymakers vote again for rate hike

The British pound climbed from a 14-month trough versus the US dollar Wednesday following minutes of the Bank of England’s meeting showed two policymakers voted again for an immediate interest rate hike amid a weakening economic outlook.

Previously, there were some market speculation either Ian McCafferty or Martin Weale, who voted in August for a rate increase, would reverse their support for policy tightening. But these BOE's Monetary Policy Committee members retained their stance.

Sterling traded at $1.5701, hitting a low of $1.5590 ahead of the release, even though it later lost some of the momentum, last trading at $1.5666. Against the euro, the pound also rose to 80.05 pence.

"There were a few people around who had thought that it would go to an 8-1 vote, and that it didn't provoked a bit of a relief rally in sterling," said Adam Cole, Global Head of Currency Strategy at RBC Capital Markets.