Sterling fell to a 1-1/2 week low against a broadly firmer euro on Monday but rose half a percent on the dollar as news of bomb explosions in Turkey pushed up the single currency across the board. Small bombs exploded outside branches of British bank HSBC in Ankara and Istanbul late on Sunday, just hours before British Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to the country. The blasts did not cause any casualties or serious damage. "Generally risk aversion is high and we are seeing flight-to-quality trades. There are concerns about supply in the oil market, higher interest rate expectations and incidents such as bomb blasts in Turkey," said David Mann, currency strategist at Standard Chartered.
By 0710 GMT the euro was up half a percent against the pound at 67.92 pence . It has not seen levels above 67.94 pence since mid March. Against the dollar sterling was up half a percent at $1.7665 . No key UK data is due on Monday. On Wednesday the Bank of England releases the minutes of its latest policy-setting meeting when it raised rates by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent. The minutes will detail the voting pattern of Monetary Policy Committee members and their discussion, which will provide clues on how much beyond 4.25 percent rates need to move. "Technically the euro is holding up better than sterling. If we see some members voted for a 50 basis point hike sterling will be supported," Mann said.///