The US Federal Reserve has raised interest rates for the second time in a decade, signalling growing confidence in the state of the nation's economy.
The central bank's Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) voted to hike its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to between 0.5% and 0.75%, from its previous range of 0.25% to 0.5%.
It marks the second round of monetary policy tightening since the financial crisis, with the FOMC having last increased the target in December 2015 from a range of 0% to 0.25%.
The move had been widely anticipated by investors amid signs of growing economic strength across the US, particularly in the labour market.
The announcement sent the dollar higher, knocking the pound's earlier gains to trade 0.15% lower at 1.263 against the US currency.