The pound fell below $1.16 yesterday to trade at a fresh two-year low yesterday.
Since the start of the year, the pound has fallen 14.6 per cent against the US dollar which has led to fears of a recession looming large over the UK.
There will be some relief on Friday morning that, for now, the recent wave of selling in global stock markets has eased,” says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
“After US stocks broke a four-day losing streak overnight, the FTSE 100 has eked out modest gains, supported by a broad range of companies caught up in the sell-off.
“Housebuilders were firmly lower after a week which revealed cracks in the foundations of the property market and raised questions about how much longer their selling prices can run ahead of rising labour and raw material costs.
“Later US jobs numbers will take the spotlight. The earliest release based on hard data will offer an insight into the health of the world’s largest economy, it is typically influential on markets.
“However, US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell was so clear in his messaging at last week’s Jackson Hole summit that it would take a big surprise to really move the dial.”
“Competition authorities cleared the takeover of Avast by rival NortonLifeLock and while this was not a surprise, it adds to a potential exodus of firms from an already threadbare UK tech sector, with Aveva and Micro Focus among those names either already in discussions or rumoured to be attracting interest.”
Leave a Comment