The pound has climbed to its highest level since February against the dollar after election results over the weekend.

Sterling rose by a cent versus the US currency to a little under $1.41 in early trading on Monday and was also up by about half a cent on the euro at just below €1.16.

Poll results over the weekend showed the SNP narrowly failing to win a majority in Holyrood – though with the support of the Greens there is still a pro-independence majority.

It followed a big victory in England for the Conservatives in a by-election in Hartlepool, seen as cementing Boris Johnson’s position in Downing Street for several years to come.

Meanwhile, confirmation of a further reopening of the economy in a week’s time – from indoor hospitality to foreign holidays – looked likely to lift sentiment around the UK currency.

Elsewhere in markets, Asian shares turned higher following a rally in Wall Street on Friday.

That followed a much worse than expected US employment report, which showed the world’s biggest economy added only 266,000 jobs in April, compared to the 975,000 that had been expected by economists.

The weak number looks likely to bolster the case for the Federal Reserve, America’s central bank, to keep interests low to help nurse the country back to health in the wake of the pandemic.

Those low rates have been key to supercharging US stocks which, since plunging last spring, have recovered to new record highs.

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National Australia Bank strategist Gavin Friend said: “The USD [US dollar] is in retreat and the UK economic recovery is
turning for the better.”

Any Scottish independence vote is “a long way down the road, and in our view not something to sustainably affect GBP [GB pound] right now.”

The FTSE 100 had a muted start on Monday, adding about 30 points after a strong end to last week when it surpassed 7,100 for the first time since February 2020.

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