Sterling reacted to “blue Monday”, supposedly the most miserable day of the year, by slumping in early trading against both EUR and USD, before recovering its losses by the end of the day.
It remains around 2% stronger against the euro than this time last month, as the successful vaccine rollout continues to defy low expectations.
It’s a quiet start to the week on the data front, with nothing of much interest yesterday and little to move the market today. However, ahead of the interest rate decision in early February there are speeches by both Andrew Bailey and Andy Haldane this week, which could give a clearer indication on current thinking over negative interest rates.
Tomorrow also sees data releases covering inflation, then Gfk Consumer Confidence on Friday morning, along with retail sales covering the largely pre-lockdown December and Markit PMI to end the week.
