After Jacob Rees-Mogg personally insulted the Bank of England Governor, Mark Carney, for daring to suggest that the UK’s withdrawal from the EU could have a negative impact on the economy, Carney defended the Bank’s analysis. Speaking on the Today Programme, Carney said that this type of analysis was necessary, if only so the Bank could ensure it had more than enough capital to absorb the potential losses to the banking sector.
Sterling fell back below the $1.28 level and it lost some ground against the euro too. It is fair to say that we could see some significant sterling volatility in the next couple of weeks, especially if MPs vote against May’s Brexit proposals. The extent of sterling’s moves will largely depend on how many MPs vote against the bill – if it is heavily defeated then there will be increased fears of a no-deal Brexit.
Mortgage approvals came in better than expected for October, with 67,086 approved in October 2018 from an upwardly revised 65,726 in the previous month. It is the highest number of approvals since January. Today we will see Gfk consumer confidence for November, which is expected to drop to -11 from -10 the previous month.
