After weakening at the beginning of last week and making a gradual recovery from Wednesday onwards, the pound is trading around the same levels against the euro and the dollar this morning.
A series of PMI data came out for the UK on Friday, showing growth in the services and manufacturing sectors in the month of July but coming in below expectations. This is said to be due to shortages of staff and materials due to workers having to self-isolate because of contracting COVID-19 or being ‘pinged by the NHS app.
The data also showed that inflationary pressures are particularly high and are growing at an unprecedented rate, which could be a concern for Bank of England officials who take the view that higher inflation is temporary.
Later today, BoE official Gertjan Vlieghe will speak. This will be followed by a series of data throughout the week including housing prices on Wednesday and car production figures on Thursday.
