2014.08.0723:24:27UTC+00Pound trades about 0.2% from 8-week low

The British pound sterling traded at around 0.2% from its weakest level in eight weeks against the US dollar following the Bank of England officials retained the key interest at a record-low of 0.5% in its two-day meeting.

Sterling was slightly changed at $1.6844 as of 4:07 p.m. (London time) after it reached $1.6814 on August 4, matching the lowest since June 12. Against the euro, the currency strengthened 0.2% to 79.28 pence.

“The next big U.K.-related point of interest is going to be the labor market data next week and the Bank of England’s inflation report. Sterling’s direction is broadly moving sideways but if we get better U.S. numbers out over the next couple of weeks, that’s going to be more of a driver - how much dollar enthusiasm there is out there,” said Daragh Maher, Foreign-Exchange Strategist at HSBC Holdings Plc.

The pound has softened 0.2% last month, based on Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes, which monitor 10 developed-nation currencies. Last year, sterling was the best performer, gaining 9.9% as investors carried bets on the timing of the BOE’s first interest rate hike since 2007.