The US government shutdown has seen the value of the pound rise further against the dollar, up to around $1.3465 to £1 on Wednesday. Stock markets have also risen, with the FTSE 100 up 0.7 per cent in morning trading to new record intraday highs.
In wider economic data affecting the UK, manufacturing was down in September as expected, following on from news earlier in the week that GDP rose only 0.3 per cent in the second quarter of the year. Meanwhile, house prices rose once more in September following August’s slight decline, with year-on-year growth at 2.2 per cent across the UK.
