After a lull in the markets, the pound hit 1.158 against the euro this morning amid rumours of a delay to Brexit and increased likelihood of a second referendum. Previously, Theresa May denied reports that Brexit would be delayed past 29 March, saying she remains ‘focused’ on the set date. However, yesterday evening, we learnt that three ministers are threatening to resign unless May rules out leaving with no deal. At the same time, Jeremy Corbyn has said he will use Wednesday to put forward his own plan and, if that fails, will back a second vote.
However, with the date for the ‘meaningful vote’ on the revised withdrawal deal pushed back to 12 March, there’s still plenty of uncertainty on the horizon – and who knows how long this upswing in the pound will last?
In the US, Trump has provided some relief in the US-China trade war, postponing tariff rises. He tweeted, ‘I will be delaying the US increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for US & China!’
Today, we’ve a raft of housing data for the US, as well as the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee meeting – we’ll see the results on the 5th March. For the Eurozone, Germany and France will publish consumer sentiment figures, with little change expected from the previous release.
There’s so much volatility on the horizon that it’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen. Find out how to protect your money from sudden exchange rate drops by speaking to your Personal Trader on 020 7898 0541 about locking in the rate with a forward contract.