Pound Climbs As Restrictions Ease In England

The pound spiked up against its major counterparts in the European session on Monday, as England entered the second phase of relaxation under Boris Johnson's re-opening roadmap in the wake of a successful vaccination programme.

Two households or groups of up to six people will be permitted to meet from today as the stay at home order has ended.

Outdoor sports such as basketball, golf and cricket will be resumed by observing social distancing regulations.

The U.K. passed the milestone of vaccinating more than 30 million adults with a first dose of coronavirus vaccine on Sunday.

Data from the Bank of England showed that UK mortgage borrowing increased the most since 2016 in February.

The number of mortgage approvals declined to 87,669 in February from 97,350 in January. The expected level was 95,000.

The pound moved up to 1.3002 against the franc, a level unseen since December 2019. The pound is seen finding resistance around the 1.32 level.

The pound rallied to a 10-day high of 151.70 against the yen and a 6-day high of 1.3842 against the greenback, from Friday's closing values of 151.10 and 1.3781, respectively. The pound is likely to find resistance around 153.00 against the yen and 1.41 against the greenback.

The pound jumped to its highest level since February 2020 against the euro, at 0.8506. If the pound continues its rise, 0.84 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.