Pound rallies as US stimulus hopes drive markets higher – business

The Covid-19 lockdown has driven a boom in pet ownership, with people turning to furry and feathered friends to get them through the pandemic.

Pets At Home, which sells food, toys, bedding and accessories as well as veterinary services and animals, grew its sales by 18.0% year-on-year in the last quarter, to £302m.

It saw “continued growth in our VIP and Puppy & Kitten clubs”, as more families took the opportunity to adopt a pet.

As an essential retailer, Pets At Home kept trading through the pandemic – with a one-hour Click & Collect service at all its 451-strong store estate, and a “Deliver to Car” service across more than 150 stores.

It has also launched two smaller “next generation stores” in London (Camden and Putney), and is working on a wider rollout inside the M25.

The Evening Standard has more details:

Pets At Home is on the hunt for up to 20 sites in London, where it plans to open high street branches to cater for a new wave of animal owners in the capital since the first lockdown.

Chief executive Peter Pritchard said the retailer has seen a “significant step up in pet ownership during the pandemic”.

European technology stocks are leading today’s rally, Reuters points out:

Tech stocks jumped 1.5%, continuing their rally for a second straight session, led by software maker Sage Group which jumped 4.7% after posting higher quarterly recurring revenue.

“In the past few days, the market has been breathing a sigh of relief that we had a safe transfer of power from Trump to Biden,” said Dhaval Joshi, strategist at BCA Research.

Separately, the Bank of England has reported that lenders expect to offer more secured credit to consumers in the current quarter.

That could help those looking to buy a house:

UK consumers spent a third less on their credit and debit cards last week than before the pandemic struck, as the latest lockdown hit the economy.

That’s according to new data from the Office for National Statistics which shows the impact of Covid-19 on spending, and…