Sterling jumped to a fresh 11-year high against the dollar on Tuesday, narrowing its distance from the psychological level of $2.00 to less than 10 cents, as investors snapped up high-yielding currencies.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars, which like sterling have relatively high interest rates, hit seven-year highs on the greenback on Tuesday.
In addition to its yield-appeal, sterling was helped by news that Britain's Vodafone had withdrawn from an multibillion-dollar auction for US company AT&T Wireless.
"Sterling is the flavour of the month now," said Lee Ferridge, head of global currency strategy at Rabobank in London. "This morning Vodafone news helped.
"There were some worries about outflows from the UK. So this gave sterling another lift higher but it backed up a market that was already a friend of sterling. The around $1.90 stops were hit and accelerated the move," he said.
Sterling rose as high as $1.9083, its highest level since September 1992, although it fell back to around $1.9060 by 1500 GMT.
It was also slightly higher on the day versus the euro at 67.35 pence, reflecting the pound's broad strength.
Sterling also hit a near four-year high versus the yen, rising above 200 yen for the first time since May 1999, and hit a 14-month high on its trade weighted index at 105.6.
British inflation data showed EU-harmonised annual consumer price growth at 1.4 percent in January, up from December's 1.3 percent, which was well in line with expectations.
The numbers left the outlook for higher rates in Britain intact, having little impact on sterling which is widely expected to remain supported by comparatively high British interest rates and prospects for further monetary tightening.
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