Pound Jumps as U.K. Policy Makers End Push for More Bond Buying

The pound rallied against the euro after minutes of the Bank of England’s latest meeting showed policy makers voted unanimously against expanding their stimulus program that tends to debase the currency.

Sterling strengthened versus most of its 16 major peers. In Governor Mark Carney’s first policy meeting, Paul Fisher and David Miles dropped their call for an expansion of the asset-purchase program in favor of a strategy involving guidance on future interest rates, today’s minutes showed. Gilts dropped as data revealed U.K. unemployment claims fell at their fastest pace in three years. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said asset purchases “are by no means on a preset course.”