The pound has dropped by well over 1% against the euro from its near-six-year high yesterday, while continuing to fall against the dollar.
GBP/USD is now at its lowest point since November 2020, although still well above its five-year average.
This morning retail sales in Britain were seen to be 2.7% above last February (although a 6.9% increase in non-food retail), but this is around half the expected rise.
We’ve also heard that German industrial production was three times greater than predicted, rising in January by 2.7%.
The big story in the business news is oil and gas, with oil hitting $139 a barrel yesterday. To avoid all this cash flowing directly to Russia an oil embargo is being actively considered, but the EU gets 60% of its oil from Russia. An oil embargo could see the price of other countries’ oil hit $200 a barrel or more.
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