Left; Right; Left; Right; A-Ten-Hut!
Defence was put on the table by the United Kingdom as a bargaining chip for a post-Brexit trading relationship. The UK is one of few nations that meets its NATO spending requirements on defence when measured as a percentage of GDP. Understandably, the UK has a developed defence sector, significant even on the global stage. Given the limited defensive capacity of the collective group of EU states, the UK’s punch and permanent seat at the security council will be missed. In order to achieve post-secession trading rights within the bloc, the UK had hoped to leverage its might – quite literally. However, reports out today suggested that the EU and the UK had reached an impasse in their negotiations over post-exit defensive cooperation, undermining hopes for a wider deal. Given the uncertainty around a deal, perhaps as early as November 21st, Sterling lost value throughout the day.
Payrolls Friday in the US understandably attracted attention to the US Dollar. Observing the number of jobs created last month, the data showed an additional 250 thousand new jobs were made; topping median estimates and affording the Dollar greater value. The Dollar had begun the day on the back foot, continuing early November’s trend, however, the optimistic data restored the Dollar close to a neutral position on the day.
Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter
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UK Employment At 75.1%, employment for people aged 16-64 looks sort of OK depending on what that really means, but it does not alter the fact that there are currently 1.55 million people who are unemployed, or 4.4% of the potential workforce. Another much more significant number, is that there are currently 9.27 million people […]
Eastern Europe and Central Asia Between 2010 and 2019 economic growth in this large geographic area averaged 4%. According to the World Bank, that growth will decelerate to 2.5% for the next 2 years and even stripping out Russia that will still be lower at 3.3%. Inflation, weak external demand from the EU, global uncertainty […]
British Pound A 7 month high versus USD, and GBP is at present benefitting from the self inflicted wounds that the USA is continuing to suffer, the latest of which is the speculation over whether POTUS will defenestrate the Chair of the Federal Reserve. At the moment, and we choose our words carefully given the […]