Shares and Pound Splutter Ahead of UK Budget

Shares and Pound Splutter Ahead of UK Budget
Pound and U.S. dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken on Jan. 6, 2020. Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

LONDON—Nagging recession and interest rate worries had Europe’s markets spluttering on Thursday, and the pound started to sag as Britain looked to put last month’s disastrous fiscal experiment behind it with an austere-looking budget.

Trading got off to a choppy start as optimism about Siemens’ earnings and that the European Central Bank might slow its rate hikes gave way to the selling that dogged Wall Street and Asia overnight.