The pound has weakened slightly against the euro and the dollar after the Prime Minister announced yesterday that there would be another national lockdown. The lockdown will last until mid-February with schools and non-essential shops shutting in England. Scotland also announced that they will enter a period of lockdown.
This has increased speculation that the Bank of England could cut interest rates at their next monetary policy meeting at the beginning of February. Officials have, so far, refrained from taking rates into negative territory.
Data released yesterday revealed that the UK manufacturing grew at its fastest pace since 2017 in December. This was supported by rising new orders as clients brought forward orders to avoid potential disruption caused by the end of the Brexit transition period.
