The pound has opened slightly weaker against the euro but is still trading around similar levels as yesterday against the dollar.
It was announced yesterday that the UK plans to invest significantly in vaccine research. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, science minister George Freeman revealed that £500m will be invested in genomic sequencing and the monitoring of coronavirus variants, as well as a further £5bn in vaccine manufacturing and NHS health research.
In other news, UK household wealth surged in 2020, up 8.4% to £11.2 trillion. This was the second-highest annual growth since the 2008 economic crisis. Much of this increase is thought to be down to land becoming more valuable as house prices rise.
PMI figures will be released later this morning and Bank of England official Michael Saunders will speak at noon.
