The pound strengthened yesterday on news that the Brexit Party would not stand candidates in any of the 317 seats that were won by the Conservative Party in the 2017 general election. Sterling was boosted against both the pound and the euro as the possibility of a hung Parliament potentially looks less likely. Leader of the Brexit Party, Nigel Farage, said that they will concentrate their efforts on seats held by the Labour Party.
Farage has also since called for the Conservative’s to return the favour and step down in Labour-held constituencies, in order to make way for the Brexit Party. Sterling has weakened slightly as a result.
Sterling was also supported earlier in the day due to GDP figures, which showed that the economy has avoided recession and grew by 0.3% on a quarterly basis. However, the year-on-year figure showed the slowest expansion in over a decade.
Balance of Trade figures showed that the trade deficit rose in September, showing that imports increased at 3.9% whilst exports advanced at a slower 1.1%. Industrial production fell 1.4% in September, marking the fourth consecutive month of losses in industrial output.
