Today's news headlines: 

‘England eases travel curbs from France for fully vaccinated’. With Coronavirus infections falling in France, the UK has opted to remove quarantine restrictions for those travelling to Britain, as the 'amber plus' category is officially abandoned. Spain remains on the Amber list as case levels are still persistently high. More countries are starting to be added to the UK’s green list, a sign that travel is beginning to get back to normal. Although we're still some way behind pre-pandemic norms, continued vaccinations and keeping Covid variants controlled are expected to be the routes back to this normality. (Financial Times)

‘French fund manager to launch first EU regulated bitcoin tracker’. The first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund will be launched by Paris-based Melanion Capital and is expected to track 30 stocks across cryptocurrency sectors. With regulators still extremely wary of digital assets, this new approach of holding assets under a scheme that offers protections to investors could be the way to win over those bodies. Current regulations prevent the holding of cryptocurrency itself, but holding companies involved in this sector is not prohibited, with the Melanion fund expected to track the price of Bitcoin by around 90%. (Financial Times)

Today

Weak jobs data out of the US yesterday knocked markets with the S&P 500 0.46% lower on the day. Robinhood, the online broker, finished 50% higher yesterday after last week’s disappointing IPO. Cable is trading around $1.39 this morning ahead of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee meetings later today, while GBP/EUR is testing the €1.1750 level.

Events

German Factory Orders m/m: 4.1% vs -3.2% last month
European Central Bank Economic Bulletin: 9:00AM
Bank of England Monetary Policy Report: 12:00PM
MPC Official Bank Rate Votes: 12:00PM
US Unemployment Claims: 1:30PM
FOMC member Christopher Waller speaks: 3:00PM

Interbank rates:

GBP/USD – 1.3878
GBP/EUR – 1.1729
EUR/USD – 1.1830
USD/CAD – 1.2533

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