On a day that has seen Saudi Aramco (SE:2222) become the largest listed company in the world after the biggest IPO in market history, the pound suffered a shock following YouGov’s final general election MRP model.
A few weeks ago the Conservatives were facing an 80-seat majority. Then it was around the 68-seat mark. Now, according to YouGov, the Tories may be in for 28-seat buffer, one that could potentially make it difficult for Boris Johnson to easily get his own way Brexit-wise.
From its previous position of quiet confidence – the kind that saw it spend December hitting multi-month, multi-year highs – sterling took a tumble on Wednesday. Against the dollar it lost 0.7%, dragging cable to a 6-day low of $1.3112, while against the euro it shed 0.6%, leaving the pound under €1.1835. Compared to where it was near the end of November, however, and the currency is still clearly banking on a blue dawn come Friday morning.
The FTSE 100 was warmed by the sight of sterling’s losses, rising 0.4% as it tried to get back to 7250. This was joined by similar gains in the Eurozone; the DAX was also up 0.4%, with the CAC crossing 5850 with a 0.1% increase.
Turning to this afternoon and the Dow Jones is facing a 50-point, 27900-passing push. US trading could be tempered by a pre-Fed lull this Wednesday. That is unless there is an update on the situation between Beijing and Washington, be it an eleventh hour deal or a tariff delay.
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