Pound Steady Close To Multi-Month Highs

The pound is steady this morning, holding close to multi-month highs against the dollar and euro, supported by news from the Bank of England that inflation is expected to rise to 2.4% in the coming year, the first rise since last August and up from 2.1% in February.

That might indicate the need to raise interest rates somewhere not too far down the line, which would be supportive for sterling.

Comments from Alistair Darling in today's FT that he was "confident but cautious" over the prospects of recovery in the UK, appear to be being greeted as if he has the remotest idea what he's on about. The caterpillar-eyebrowed one said that the failure of other European nations in cleaning up their banks and rising oil prices are still a threat to economic recovery. (So if/when it all goes tits-up again it's circumstances beyond his control).

Can you just imaging the smug little look on his face? "I haven't got a clue really, and it's all down to pure luck that things are going my way, but I'm going to sit here and take the credit for it and pretend that it's all my doing. It's just fortunate for me that nobody else seems to know what they're doing either."

"I might just pop over to the G8 meeting in Italy this weekend and give those lads the benefit of my opinion on things, let them know how I've managed to turn this ship around, throw them a few pointers like."

"My God, I'm gorgeous."