Month-on-month inflation figures for the UK have beaten forecasts today, coming in at 0.6% ahead of the 0.3% consensus, bringing the year-on-year figure to 2.9%. FX markets have seen Sterling rise strongly against peers, with it currently up 0.84% against the US Dollar, 1.03% against the Euro and 1.22% versus the Japanese Yen. The converse effect has been for the FTSE 100 index to fall into the red, currently down -0.23% as exporters see their profits fall. The news also has potential to affect this week's Bank of England policy meeting, with the expectation being that a more hawkish mood could result from the higher than expectation inflation figures. Today has also seen the EU repeal bill make it through its first round of voting in the House of Commons - a piece of legislation that will overturn the 1972 European Communities Act and see the UK adopt EU law into its own, thus severing the UK from European law. It will now go through a second vote for 157 amendments to be debated.