Plagued by concerns about the upcoming Brexit, the British pound has sunk to levels not hit since April 2017. The currency was flogged most recently by yesterday’s announcement that the British government will postpone a Brexit vote in Parliament that was originally scheduled for today. On Monday the pound slumped 1.7 percent against the dollar. It also traded down against the euro. On Tuesday, the sterling recouped some of its losses, gaining modestly against its two primary trading partners. The sterling was up 0.14 percent against the greenback as of 1:18 p.m. HK/SIN, to $1.2575. It was trading at 0.9037 against the euro. The pound is down over 7 percent since the beginning of 2018.
According to British Prime Minister Theresa May, the decision to delay the parliamentary vote was based on her concern that the Northern Irish would cause her proposal to lose, despite widespread support from other leaders. Despite May’s optimism, her critics have claimed that the deal is a sellout for the United Kingdom and that it will reduce the region’s influence while clinging to many of the EU rules May was trying to extricate the UK from.
Stock Markets Seek Direction
Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday after a volatile trading day on Wall Street saw the three benchmark indexes eke out modest gains. Chinese shares were trading in positive territory after Beijing announced that it was still involved in trade talks with the United States. The Shenzhen Composite was up 0.48 percent and the Shanghai Composite was up 0.28 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.04 percent, while Australia’s ASX 200 gained 0.29 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 eased 0.41 percent in the early afternoon. Analysts expect increased volatility in the coming days as traders wait to hear about the latest round of U.S.-Sino trade negotiations.