london jan 6 reuters  the pound fell versus the dollar and euro on thursday pulling back from some its recent gains in a dip driven by dollar strength following the release of more hawkish than expected federal reserve minutes risksensitive currencies such as the british pound australian dollar and canadian dollar were down on the day versus the us dollar which was boosted late on wednesday and overnight by the minutes of the feds december meeting read more these sparked worries about faster than expected monetary policy tightening as they showed that a very tight job market and unabated inflation might require the fed to raise rates sooner than expected european shares slid 1 read more at 0900 gmt the pound was down 04 against the stronger dollar at 13499  versus the euro it was down around 02 at 83625 pence per euro  still the pound had a strong start to the year having strengthened against the dollar on tuesday and wednesday and risen from the oneyear low of 131615 seen in december analysts say the strengthening is due to investors seeing the omicron variant of covid19 as less disruptive to the economy than originally feared the pound has staged a strong rebound over the holiday period reflecting in part position adjustment as short positions have been scaled back mufg currency analyst lee hardman said in a note to clients the more encouraging omicron developments for the uk economy should keep the boe’s policy focus on addressing inflation concerns at their next policy meeting on 3rd february although britain has seen record prevalence of the virus with one in fifteen people in england infected prime minister boris johnson has resisted imposing stricter lockdown measures in england read more on wednesday johnson announced a relaxation of the rules around travelling to england scrapping the need for a predeparture test yesterday’s decision to ease travel rules suggests that boris johnson’s government is determined to push through the omicron crisis without major restrictions wrote ing strategists in a client note once risk sentiment stabilises this should allow the pound which is backed by bank of england tightening bets to stay supported investors expect the bank of england to raise interest rates as early as next month after a surprise hike in december read more