Mmm… Well… What an interesting day for global FX markets. The day kicked off with the Court of Justice of the European Union confirming the opinion expressed by the Advocate General that Brexit is indeed reversable. Article 50 can be unilaterally reversed by the United Kingdom should it choose to do so. Despite confirming a greater breadth of possible options available to Britain as it negotiates its potential secession from the Union, the rest of the day left the Pound bruised and battered. The Pound has fallen to 18-month lows as the Prime Minister announced to Parliament this afternoon that the Brexit vote would face a considerable setback. After an emergency cabinet meeting at 11:30 this morning, concerns around May’s capacity to push through the vote through the Commons was confirmed, precipitating a spiral in underlying UK markets. The FTSE 100 index simultaneously slipped, led by tumbling financial equities. The headline index closed the day down 0.8% down, confirming investors’ increasing lack of confidence in British investments through this tumultuous time. Concerns surrounding the Indian central bank, volatility and consequent risk-off sentiment offered a great footing for the US Dollar to appreciate. Emerging markets unsurprisingly endured the wrath of animal spirits.
Today’s Global Market:
Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter
Rotation out of the US Quite what that rotation may mean and by how much is exercising the markets and also doubtless the Chair of the Federal Reserve. For the yield on 10 year US Treasury Bonds to move from 3.99% to 4.50% in a week is extraordinary. At the same time, the US Dollar […]
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 […]
Brent sub $60 The last time that oil was at this level (now clawed its way back to $62) was in February 2021, following the 18% drop in price in the past 6 days. Currently, although for very different reasons, events plus supply resemble what happened to the oil market in 2020, when during the […]