LONDON, Dec 1 Reuters Sterling rose to a near 16week high against a broadlysoft dollar on Thursday, with currency traders looking past gloomy British manufacturing data for now.

The pound was last up 0.8 against the dollar at 1.2157, its highest level since Aug. 12, breaching the previous high of 1.2153 touched on Nov. 24.

Sterling was also 0.6 higher versus the euro at 85.865 pence per euro.

There is not a great deal happening domestically, its a very dollarfocused week, particularly after Powells comments yesterday, said Adam Cole, head of FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets.

The dollar fell more than 1.5 to a threemonth low against the yen on Thursday after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said U.S. rate hikes could be scaled back as soon as December.

The pound has recovered ground from lows hit in September in the aftermath of thenPrime Minister Liz Truss39; minibudget.

Despite the uptick in recent months, the pound remains 10.3 lower on the year and traders are still focused on Britain39;s gloomy economic outlook.

Data on Thursday meanwhile showed British manufacturing activity falling for a fourth month in a row in November as businesses faced the weakest overseas demand in 212 years, leading to job cuts and reduced confidence about the year ahead.

Our longer term outlook for sterling is still negative and that is driven by the imbalances and the need for capital inflows, and all the reasons that have been there for some time, said Cole….