The pound started the day on a slow roll downwards after the sharp ups and downs of yesterday.
Nerviness over the still-hoped-for ending of social distancing on 21 June has been the cause, but reports that “Freedom Day” will be delayed by two weeks following a briefing to the government by Britain’s health chiefs yesterday are likely to weigh on sterling, with no significant data releases until UK Balance of Trade and production data on Friday.
One positive piece of data yesterday was from Barclaycard revealing that householders who were able to accumulate funds in the pandemic have been quick to start spending it. Consumer spending was 7.6% higher this May compared to 2019.
This may be reflected on by the Bank of England’s chief economist Andy Haldane in a speech at 2pm today.
