LONDON, May 8 Reuters The pound eased on Wednesday ahead of a Bank of England decision on interest rates at which analysts expect the central bank to telegraph when investors can expect borrowing costs to begin to decline.

Sterling was down 0.13 on the day at 1.2493. The pound also slipped against the euro, which gained 0.1 on the day to trade at 86.06 pence .

The pound has lost nearly 2 against the dollar so far in 2024 but remains the secondbest performing major currency behind the Chinese yuan, which is down by only 1.5 in the offshore market .

The futures market shows traders believe the BoE is likely to start lowering rates by August and could deliver two quarterpoint cuts by the end of this year.

After the BoE39;s most recent policy meeting six weeks ago, the expectation was for three 25basispoint cuts. But since then, the data has shown Britain39;s economy continues to chug along, wage growth a focal point for the central bank is moderating, though only slowly, and overall inflation is gradually declining towards the 2 target.

Whether the Bank of England cuts rates in August or June may seem academic and not actually of much importance, Caxton FX strategist David Stritch said.

But on the contrary, a June cut would mean that the BoE still has five meetings before the end of 2024 plenty of time to cut and maybe cut again.

Almost more importantly, investors expect far fewer cuts this year from the U.S. Federal Reserve than they did at the start of January,…