Despite a brief dip yesterday morning, sterling maintained its position at a four-month high against the euro and a two-week high against the US dollar.
The pound was supported by news that the 19 July lifting of restrictions in the UK remains on track. The Prime Minister urged Britons to shift from government-imposed diktat to companies and individuals taking responsibility while adopting “a cautious approach”.
With the widespread expectation that a wave of Covid-19 infections of up to 100,000 per day will be the result, there is nervousness in the markets as to whether UK health services and business will cope with the disruption.
In Europe, European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde has warned that unity on its new 2% inflation target (as opposed to the previous target of “below, but close to 2%”), is likely to cause division and argument among policymakers.
Elsewhere in the business news, Ryanair is starting to take delivery of over 200 Boeing 737 Max aircraft and looking to employ 2,000 new staff, and a survey of large US companies found a high level of confidence about doing business in post-Brexit Britain.
The Bank of England’s Financial Stability Report, published today, finds that British banks are in a good place to support the UK economy through the post-Covid recovery.
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