The Prime Minister announced a raft of coronavirus lockdown restrictions being eased from 4 July, including the opening of pubs, outdoor gyms, cinemas and galleries, if they can do so with effective social distancing of “one-metre-plus”.
What remains to be seen is which businesses have the money to open when they are able to.
Outbreaks of Covid-19 have continued to erupt in Germany, and the CEO of tech company Wirecard was arrested in what appears to be an accounting scandal.
Yesterday saw a rush of Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) readings across the UK and Europe from a London–based global information provider IHS Markit. The currency markets value PMI readings because they are a measure of the power behind an economy, asking managers about their expectations for production, employment, orders and other inputs in the month ahead.
A reading over 50 indicates that an economy is expanding, which is positive for a currency. However any improvement from recent readings and ahead of market expectations will tend to boost the currency.
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