The pound hit a new 31-month level against the dollar. Although it has some way to go to beat the USD1.40 highs of early 2018, it is trading at around the highest rates since the referendum of June 2016.
Against the euro, sterling recovered some of the losses of the week yesterday, rising by just over 0.5%.
Sterling’s continued rise against all major currencies was symptomatic of a move towards riskier assets such and stocks and commodities, and is a sign of hope that the UK will emerge from the pandemic faster than other countries, with the approval of the new vaccine.
House prices were revealed to be rising by 7.3% year-on-year, a six-year high, according to the Nationwide Building Society.
There are no data releases today or tomorrow, a Bank Holiday, but a large number on Monday 4 January, including Manufacturing PMI, Bank of England Consumer Credit and mortgage approvals.
