Drawn into getting their hopes up, the European indices rallied on reports of a ‘productive working dinner’ between the US and China in Beijing last night, one that included talking of a forced technology transfer between the nations.
With the US and Asian markets ending higher, some sizeable growth was greenlit on Friday morning. The FTSE jumped 0.7%, pushing it back towards 7300 having spent a good portion of the week lurking below 7200. The DAX, meanwhile, could only add 0.4%, way off the 0.9% increase managed by the 5330-crossing CAC.
On a day that was meant to see Britain leave the EU, sterling is instead facing the umpteenth vote designed to break the Brexit deadlock in Parliament. There’s little chance of it succeeding, however; though not technically the ‘meaningful vote 3’ that has been on and off all week, Theresa May is nevertheless putting her withdrawal agreement to MPs once again, this time sans the political declaration covering the UK and EU’s future relationship.
Most of Labour, all of the DUP and around 30 ERG Tories remain unconvinced by May’s proposal, despite her promises to step down, meaning the PM could soon complete a hat-trick of Brexit deal humiliations. What complicates matters is that if it isn’t passed this Friday then the UK misses out on the May 22nd extension, instead having until April 12th to notify the EU of its intensions (be that ‘no deal’, some kind of new path, or a far longer delay).
Understandably worn out by the thicket of political grandstanding and self-interest preventing any one option breaking through as a clear frontrunner, the pound fell 0.3% against both the dollar and the euro, leaving it under $1.32 and €1.16 respectively. Given the Brexit focus, it’ll be interesting to see whether the day’s data – including the UK’s final Q4 GDP reading – will have any major impact on the currency.
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