The pound is taking off
The pound is taking off on Monday afternoon.
After trading in marginally positive territory for the morning and early afternoon, sterling ratcheted higher just before 1.30 p.m. GMT (8.30 a.m. ET), jumping to a gain of around 1.2% on the day, and passing back above 1.25 against the dollar.
As of 1.50 p.m. GMT (8.40 a.m. ET) sterling is up by around 1% on the day, having pared some of its huge gains.
Here is the chart:
While there does not appear to be any clear driver of sterling's early afternoon surge, much of the pound's strength on the day comes from a weaker US dollar on the day. The US dollar index - which tracks the dollar against a broad basket of currencies - is down by roughly 0.5% at 100.90 ahead of a quite day for data stateside. The dollar index passed above the significant 100 mark for the first time in around a year last week.
Against the euro, sterling is also strongly higher, gaining nearly 0.5% on the single currency. Here's the chart:
