Sterling extended earlier losses against the dollar to stand down one percent on the day on Wednesday as less hawkish minutes from the Bank of England's policy meeting cooled expectations for aggressive rate rises. Monetary Policy Committee members voted 8-1 for steady rates when the Bank left rates unchanged at four percent at the April 7-8 meeting. Markets were expecting members voted 6-3. Members noted the continuing strength of the exchange rate which offset the inflationary impact of strong house price growth. "The 8-1 vote was a surprise and means uncertainty has increased over whether rates will rise in May," said Michael Klawitter, currency strategist at WestLB. "This gave sterling a knock at a time when high-yielders are already under pressure." By 1101 GMT sterling fell as low as $1.7665 compared with $1.7849 in late New York on Tuesday. Against the euro it was down two thirds of a percent at 66.89 pence .||