The pound slumped to a three-month low and the FTSE 100 tumbled 1.9 per cent after the U.K. lifted remaining virus curbs in England even as virus cases increased the most in the world, signalling the challenge nations face to fully reopen their economies.
The risk-off mood “reflects growing concerns about the delta variant with the rebound in new cases across the world and the tightening of containment measures in several Asian countries,” Credit Agricole COB strategists led by Jean-François Paren wrote in a note. “As the pandemic and economic prospects become more uncertain, it is again the role of central banks and governments to compensate for the worsening outlook.