Pound rose in volatile trading, and yen fell near the 1998 level

The British pound rose on Thursday in volatile trade as investors awaited the imminent deadline set by the Bank of England to end its emergency bond purchase program.

The fragile yen approached a new 24-year low as markets worried before US inflation data was released later on Thursday, looking for any possible clues on the rate at which the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates.

The pound rose 0.44 percent to $ 1.1147 by 1054 GMT in a volatile week. On Wednesday, the British currency fell to its lowest level in nearly two weeks, but it rebounded after the Financial Times reported that the Bank of England indicated privately to banks that it was ready to extend its emergency bond-buying program beyond the Friday deadline if market conditions required.

However, the Bank of England later confirmed that its temporary bond-buying program would expire on October 14.

Meanwhile, the government said on Wednesday that it will not back down from its plans to cut taxes broadly or cut public spending, measures that have caused a major jolt to the country’s financial markets amid uncertainty over how the measures will be financed.

Britain’s longer-dated bond yields fell on Thursday from a 20-year high hit on Wednesday before the Bank of England bought 4.4 billion pounds ($4.9 billion) of debt instruments at its daily auctions due to end on Friday, helping On the support of the pound sterling.

On the other hand, the yen fell 0.1 percent to 146.8 against the dollar, a small difference from the lowest level recorded since August 1998 at 146.98 against the dollar, which was recorded on Wednesday, and surpassing the lowest level recorded last month at 145.90 against the dollar, which prompted the Japanese authorities at the time to intervene to buy the yen .

The dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of other currencies, including the pound and the yen, fell 0.17 percent to 113.01 points, but it is not far from its highest level in 20 years, which it touched two weeks ago.