TOKYO, Sept 21 Reuters The dollar hit fresh peaks against a handful of currencies on Thursday, sitting around its highest versus the yen since early November, after the U.S. Federal Reserve struck a sternly hawkish tone after holding rates steady.

Sterling and the euro sank to fresh multimonth lows as questions ramp up about whether the Bank of England may follow its U.S. peer in pausing rates later on Thursday.

The Australian and New Zealand dollar also lost ground, although the Kiwi was buoyed somewhat by strongerthanexpected GDP numbers out earlier in the morning.

The dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of rivals, rose as high as 105.68, its strongest since early March, before settling slightly lower at 105.55.

The Fed met market expectations at its monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, holding interest rates steady at the 5.25 5.50 range.

The U.S. central bank, however, stiffened a hawkish monetary policy stance that its officials increasingly believe can succeed in lowering inflation without wrecking the economy or leading to large job losses.

Many people went into the Fed meeting expecting a hawkish hold, but it was a more hawkish hold than widely anticipated, said Moh Siong Sim, FX strategist at the Bank of Singapore.

Along with another possible rate hike this year, the Fed39;s updated projections show significantly tighter rates through 2024 than previously expected.

The Japanese yen was feeling the heat after the Fed meeting,…