nov 11 reuters  sterling edged higher against a weakening dollar on friday after british economic data came in stronger than expected according to official data britains economy shrank by a less severe thanexpected 02 in the three months to september which is likely to represent the start of a lengthy recession the pound scored its biggest daily gain since march 2020 against the dollar on thursday after us consumer prices cooled off in october supporting expectations that the federal reserve might slow down its rate tightening path uk gdp monthly and quarterly data early this morning are helping gbpusd hold the line at around 117 unicredit analysts said sterling rose 02 to 11730 after hitting its highest since aug 26 at 11766 the pound has been benefiting from its high sensitivity to global risk sentiment and the unwinding of a large short position ing analysts said investors poured into risky assets after thursday’s us inflation data sending the dollar tumbling and us treasury yields to a fiveweek low but analysts remained cautious ahead of the announcement of the governments budget programme on nov 17 by prime minister rishi sunak and his finance minister jeremy hunt sunak suggested a squeeze on public spending and potentially higher taxes in a move that could further weaken the economy hunt said on friday the best way to help cashstrapped households was to produce a fiscal plan that would bring down inflation repeating that tough decisions on tax and spending would be needed to repair britains public finances and the governments credibility investors are also waiting for jobs data due next week which might provide further cues about potential inflation secondround effects the bank of england boe chief economist recently said the central bank could not consider the threats posed by inflation to be under control and interest rates will need to rise further even with the economy going into recession sterling fell 02 against the single currency to 8722 pence per euro reporting by stefano rebaudo editing by emelia sitholematarise and tomasz janowski