As Covid-19 causes Mardi Gras celebrations to be cancelled around the world today for the second year, the UK continued to see 25% falls in cases and hospitalisations compared to last week, and nearly a quarter of the population vaccinated.
That translated into another rise in the strength of the pound to a nearly one-year high against the euro and three-year high against the US dollar.
In the UK, the FTSE had its best day since early January, rising 2.5%.
In business news, the car maker Jaguar is setting itself as a rival to Tesla as it promises to go all-electric within 15 years.
There has been more criticism heaped on EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, this time from within the EU, as senior MEP Guy Verhofstadt said she had prolonged “drastically the Covid pandemic on mainland Europe”.
US economic leaders in the West Wing and the Fed are pushing ahead with a $1.9bn stimulus package, brushing aside fears that it could be inflationary.
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