The pound hit a seven-week low against the dollar and the euro on Wednesday (8 March), as the last Spring Budget did little to halt sterling's decline, which has now reached its ninth consecutive session.

Sterling had touched a seven-week low of $1.2165 against the dollar before Philip Hammond's speech, but fell even further after the Chancellor set out his fiscal plan. By mid-afternoon, the UK currency was 0.34% and 0.23% lower against the dollar and the euro respectively, trading at $1.2158 and €1.1515.

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"The pound remains hamstrung by ongoing uncertainty over Brexit following the bloody nose delivered by the Lords," said Neil Wilson, senior analyst at ETX Capital.

"Until we get more certainty the pressure will remain on the pound. Lower borrowing was another bit of good news and the yield on gilts rose a touch but remained firmly below the levels of late January."

Chris Saint, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown currency service, added: "The combination of disappointing UK data recently and Brexit-related uncertainties are keeping international investors cautious over the currency's prospects more generally."

Across the Atlantic, meanwhile, the dollar was on the front foot against its main rivals, after the private sector recorded the third-best showing for jobs creation during the current economic recovery.

According to payroll processor ADP, the US private sector added 298,000 jobs in February, the most since April 2014. The possibility of a rate hike in March surged from 30% to 80% last week, on the back of comments from a number of Fed policymakers, including Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen. With just over a week left before the decision, only a disappointing non-farm payrolls jobs report this coming Friday could alter the Fed's stance.

"The market is racing to revise expectations about Fed tightening – barring a nasty surprise on jobs on Friday, March is all but a certainty, but now hikes seem almost fully priced in for all other meetings this year," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.

"Of course, this raises the risk of disappointment, especially if the Fed's rhetoric is not as rosy as expected."

The greenback was 0.15% higher against the Swiss Franc, trading at CHF1.0148 and rose 0.59% and 0.19% against the yen and the euro respectively, fetching ¥114.65 and €0.9479. The US currency, was also 0.47% higher against the Canadian dollar, trading at CAD$1.3476 and surged 0.65% against its Australian counterpart to AUD$1.3254.

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