Pound rises to 4-year high with new GDP data awaited

The British pound climbed to a four-year high versus the U.S. dollar on Monday, as market estimates pointed to stronger economic growth in the country. The pound reached 1.685 against the greenback on Monday morning, the highest level since November 2009. The pound was little changed versus the euro at 82.35 pence, however Economic data underpinning the strengthening of the pound caused investors to turn bullish on the currency, experts said. According to data by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, institutional investors' bets on a rise in the British currency exceeded those on a decline by 47,800 contracts as of April 22. "Employment's up. And the period of inflation outpacing average pay is finally over. Things are looking rosy in the UK's economic garden," Andrew McLaughlin, chief economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland, said in his weekly note. On the same day, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said in a monthly survey report that British economic growth continued to gather pace in April, alongside projections of stronger growth in the next quarter. Britain's Office for National Statistics will release the first estimation of the country's GDP in the first quarter on Tuesday. According to the Bank of England's projections, growth will pick up to around 1 percent, 0.3 percentage points higher than that of the previous quarter. It would be the strongest performance since the second quarter of 2010..