The pound sterling climbed to its highest level in a year and a half against the euro. An appreciation supported by the prospect of a slowdown in asset purchases by the Bank of England (BoE).

The British currency reached 84.69 pence for one euro on Monday morning. The pound sterling thus returned to a level not seen since February 2020 against the euro, echoing the prospect of a "slight tightening" of monetary policy mentioned Thursday by the Bank of England (BoE). After touching 84.69 pence for one euro at the start of the morning - a first since February 26, 2020 - the British currency gained 0.08% against the single European currency at the end of the morning, to 84.71 pence. For the moment, monetary policy remains accommodating, like the "slight tightening" envisaged by the institution in the next two years to counter the rise in inflation, according to the minutes of its last meeting on Thursday. However, the BoE has renewed a very flexible monetary policy for the time being.

The central bank had added that it would consider actively selling its assets when the rate reached at least 1%. The dollar stable against the euro. Moreover, on the currency market, the dollar was stable against the euro after gaining ground on Friday, driven by the good employment figures in the United States which again suggest an upcoming increase in US Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate. The greenback gleaned 0.01% against the European currency, at 1.1760 dollars. On the other hand, bitcoin, recovering, was trying to find the threshold of 45,000 dollars, briefly crossed on Sunday for the first time in almost two months. The cryptocurrency gained 1.93% to $44,714.