Sterling fell again today after a sharp rally against the dollar on Wednesday. The pound hit its biggest jump since mid-June on Wednesday, dragging the euro with it, after the Bank of England conducted the first of its emergency bond-buying operations, worth more than £1 billion. This morning, sterling was down 0.9% at $1.0789 mid-session in Asia, losing some of the previous day’s rally. The euro also fell to $0.969, after Wednesday’s 1.5% gain, the biggest since early March. Sterling had fallen to a record low of $1.0327 on Friday as investors delivered a scathing verdict on Kwasi Kwarteng’s plan for record tax cuts funded by a massive increase in borrowing. The euro had sunk to a new two-decade low of $0.9528.

5 things to start your day

  1. Pension fund crisis forces £65bn bailout from Bank Bank warned of ‘material risk to UK financial stability’ and stepped in to buy long-term female
  2. Yellen reassures global economy’s health after IMF stokes UK contagion fears The US Treasury secretary insisted financial markets were “functioning well” as stocks in Europe and Wall Street rallied.
  3. UK trade and travel at risk of ‘precipitous’ decline if Brussels refuses to ease looming border controls.
  4. EDF explores keeping UK nuclear plants open longer to boost energy supply The French state-owned utility has said it will review its current plans to close Hartlepool and Heysham 1 in March 2024.
  5. Russia forced to use its own jet technology to supply fleets The country is trying to revive its accident-prone Cold War-era aviation industry after the fallout from Western sanctions

What happened in the night

Asian stock markets rose on Thursday after the Bank of England launched an emergency bond-buying program. The move boosted sterling and offered some comfort to a choppy mood in markets, but by mid-morning in Tokyo the pound was already struggling for support and was down 0.6% at $1.0818. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.5 percent and is eyeing its best session in a month. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.9 percent, while the Hang Seng rose 2 percent.

It’s coming today

Economics: Consumer credit (UK), mortgage approvals (UK), gross domestic product (US), initial jobless claims (US), consumer confidence (EU), economic sentiment index (EU) Corporate: Mcbride (final results), Next, Synairgen, Novacyt (interim), Mitchells & Butlers (trading update)