The pound starts the working week in 2021 exactly where it left us at 5pm on New Year’s Eve against the euro. Against the US dollar sterling is at its strongest – once again – since April 2018.
If you checked on the rate over the weekend, however, you will have seen some wild movements. GBP/EUR reached its highest rate since early September and very nearly its strongest since mid-May, before falling away slightly last night.
So, any idea that the post-Brexit world would be calmer for those with a sterling transaction looks to be blown out of the water already.
If sterling is a barometer of the state of UK Plc, much will depend on delivery over the next week or two. Delivery of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine into GP surgeries and into people’s arms, and efficient delivery of goods between the UK and EU without miles of hold ups at ports. (It’s an unnerving mental exercise to imagine where we would be right now if there had been no deal and no vaccines ready yet).
As it is, this looks like a classic case of it being darkest before the dawn. With Brexit (perhaps) no longer dominating the market after five long years, we await with interest to see if sterling has much support underpinning it.
If you wish to talk through your options for 2021, do call your trader today on 020 8108 5337, with a view potentially to locking in this rate.
