July 4 Reuters The British pound rose against the dollar and euro on Monday, pulling away from twoweek lows as risk sentiment improved and traders focused on any signals that the Bank of England could raise interest rates faster than expected.

At 1413 GMT the pound was up 0.31 against the dollar at 1.21330 . It was also stronger against the euro, rising 0.17 to 86.050 pence .

As risk sentiment picked up in global FX markets, the pound also rallied against socalled safehaven currencies, the Swiss franc and Japanese yen.

Sterling last week concluded its steepest sixmonth drop since 2016, down more than 10 against the dollar this year.

The focus remains on the UK39;s slowing economy, with the BoE tasked with tackling soaring inflation while avoiding a recession.

The BoE has raised rates five times since December and its next scheduled rate announcement is Aug. 4. Some market players expect a bigger increase of 50 basis points bps at the next meeting.

Any indication that policymakers are erring towards raising rates by 50 basis points at the next MPC meeting in August would be positive for the pound and may trigger a recovery rally from currently suppressed levels, Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at global financial services company Ebury, said in a note.

BoE Chief Economist Huw Pill will speak on Wednesday and fellow member of the Monetary Policy Committee MPC Catherine L Mann will speak Thursday, with traders likely to be listening closely for possible hints…