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
UK Growth Normally when UK Government figures come in exactly in line with forecasts it is a matter for self congratulation among economists and last week’s July Growth figures were no exception: the expectation was for Zero growth and indeed growth for the UK economy in July was Zero. There is a snag here: apart […]
British Pound Despite the efforts of the press to write the story that UK PM SirKeir is on his last legs, Sterling on a 2 month high is unruffled so is not taking that story seriously. Damning with the headline “Lack of Replacement Options Keeps Starmer Safe-For Now” was Bloomberg yesterday which is not exactly […]
US Rate Cuts The markets are understandably fixated on the US jobs report which comes out this afternoon given the Federal Reserve’s laser like focus on employment. On Wednesday data reflected that July Job Vacancies fell to a 10 month low. There is now a 100% chance priced in for a September US rate cut and […]