Advertisement
Advertisement

Will Theresa May and the GBP Face a Vote of No Confidence?

By:
Bob Mason
Published: Apr 23, 2019, 03:16 UTC

It's a mixed start to the day for the majors. While the Pound managed to hold steady, things could change later today as MPs return from recess.

Pound Coins Dollar

Earlier in the Day:

It was another quiet day on the economic calendar. There were no material stats released through the session to provide direction to the majors early on.

Following lighter volumes in Monday, with a large number of the major markets closed, the majors responded to moves in the U.S markets on Monday.

Across the Majors,

At the time of writing, the Japanese Yen was up 0.14% to ¥111.78 against the U.S Dollar. The Kiwi Dollar was down 0.10% to $0.6673 for the session, while the Aussie Dollar was down 0.08% to $0.7128.

Following last week’s slide in the Kiwi Dollar, the markets will need to wait until Friday to see whether trade terms will force the RBNZ’s hand. The Aussie and Kiwi Dollar remained under pressure at the start of the week, with expectations of rate cuts weighing.

In the equity markets,

The Nikkei was down by 0.24%, with the stronger Yen weighing. While the ASX200 found support from a jump in crude oil prices, the ASX200 was up by 0.77% at the time of writing, the CSI and Hang Seng saw red. The CSI300 was down 0.13%, with the Hang Seng down 0.09%.

The Day Ahead:

For the EUR,

Flash consumer confidence figures due out later this afternoon will provide direction to the EUR.

Ahead of the figures, the focus will be on corporate earnings, with risk sentiment likely to overshadow today’s stats.

At the time of writing, the EUR was down 0.07% at $1.1249.

For the Pound,

There are no material stats due out of the UK today to provide the Pound with direction. The focus in the early part of the week will be on any Brexit chatter.

MP’s return to Westminster today following the Easter recess. Theresa May will be on a mission to wrap up an exit solution before the EU Parliamentary elections and perhaps, more importantly, a more meaningful call for a vote of no confidence.

Talks of a vote of no confidence have already begun to do the rounds…

At the time of writing, the Pound was up 0.03% to $1.2986.

Across the Pond,

Economic data due out of the U.S is limited to existing home sales. The stats are unlikely to have a material impact on the U.S Dollar.

Outside of the major stats, there will likely be greater sensitivity to Redbook figures that are also due out later today.

With risk sentiment the key driver, earnings results due out include those for The Coca-Cola Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., The Procter & Gamble Co., Twitter Inc., Verizon Communications Inc.

At the time of writing, the Dollar Spot Index was up 0.04% to 97.329.

For the Loonie,

Wholesale Sales figures for February are due out this afternoon. With the market focus being on tomorrow’s Bank of Canada monetary policy decision, the stats are unlikely to have a material impact.

Even a jump in crude oil prices was not enough to support the Loonie in the early part of the day.

The Loonie was down 0.10% at C$1.3360, against the U.S Dollar, at the time of writing.

About the Author

Bob Masonauthor

With over 20 years of experience in the finance industry, Bob has been managing regional teams across Europe and Asia and focusing on analytics across both corporate and financial institutions. Currently he is covering developments relating to the financial markets, including currencies, commodities, alternative asset classes, and global equities.

Did you find this article useful?

Advertisement