Sterling steadies against dollar

Sterling steadied against the dollar on Monday, recovering from a slight dip overnight on expectations that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will "shortly" be back at work after being taken to hospital with persistent coronavirus symptoms.
The bounce back came after housing minister Robert Jenrick said Johnson was "doing well" and was expected to be back at 10 Downing Street, his official residence, shortly.
The British currency had hovered near one-week lows overnight after the British leader was taken to hospital for tests on Sunday evening. Speculators trimmed their net long positions on the pound in the week to Tuesday, March 31, CFTC data showed on Friday.
"Markets were initially quick to jump to the worst possible conclusion and assume that the PM's illness would create a degree of dysfunctioning within the UK government, which was not the case given that there were measures in place to deal with such a scenario," said Viraj Patel, global FX and macro strategist at Arkera.
Foreign minister Dominic Raab would take from Johnson if the prime minister was no longer able to continue his duties, he noted. "What we're seeing now is the pound retracing this unusual move lower as details emerge that we're far from the worst-case scenario of the UK government being plunged into disarray," Patel said.
By 1525 GMT sterling was trading 0.2% higher at $1.2286. Against the euro, it also gained 0.2% to trade at 88.02 pence. The pound remains down against both the euro and the dollar since the start of the year, by around 4% and 7% respectively.
Sterling has recovered some ground against the dollar in the past three weeks as demand for the US currency has eased globally after central banks adopted massive stimulus measures to combat the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
However, analysts have said the fundamental outlook for the currency remains weak as a ramp-up in government spending threatens to worsen the UK's current account deficit.
That, along with weak economic data due to the pandemic and the backdrop of ongoing Brexit trade talks, are among reasons analysts say the currency appears vulnerable.