British Pound Climbs Amidst Downgraded UK Growth Forecast The British pound or sterling has risen…

Iranian drones struck Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery on Monday morning, while Kuwait reported intercepted attacks on day three of Iran’s retaliatory strikes on countries in the region.

Global equities markets closed on a mixed note as investors sought sanctuary in the UK, trimming holdings in tech-heavy U.S. and EU benchmarks.

The euro area annual inflation rate was 1.7% in January 2026, down from 2.0% in December. A year earlier, the rate was 2.5%. European Union annual inflation was 2.0% in January 2026, down from 2.3% in December.

Household consumption continues to rise steadily across the euro area as the economy outperformed Fitch Ratings’ expectations in 2025, increasing by 1.5%, and Fitch expects a similar rate of expansion in 2026.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling on February 20, invalidating the Trump administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to levy broad-based tariffs on imports from most countries, slashes the U.S. effective tariff rate (ETR) by more than half, from 13% to around 5% to 6%, says Fitch Ratings.