24 Hours Later

Sterling-euro climbed over a cent and nearly a cent-and-a-half against the USD, in part helped by ecostats showing that average earnings in the UK had reached 3.2%, up from the previous 3.1%, as news broke that a draft Brexit agreement will be put to Theresa May’s cabinet today with the aim of winning more support so that the document can then be sent to the EU for clearance. However many cabinet ministers are sceptical and many senior Brexiteers and Remainers have called for the plan to be rejected – possible further resignations are also touted. The 27 other EU states will also need to sign it off this will be done at an emergency summit, yet to be organised. Should this actually happen, the government may face strong opposition with some Tories and even some DUP members expressing doubt and concern.

One of the areas of concern is the Northern Ireland “backstop” which many Brexiteers fear will keep the UK locked into EU trade rules for years. Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson has called it “utterly unacceptable”, former Brexit secretary David Davis has called for “the cabinet and conservative MPs to stand up, be counted and say no to this capitulation” and Nigel Farage has called it “the worst deal in history”.

With all the current negativity around the Brexit and with exchange rates at the highest they have been since April it would be more than prudent to think about making the most of current levels, especially if you have a large overseas payment to make in the near future.

Data-wise today we see a huge amount of inflation data from the UK in the form of all three of RPI, PPI and CPI shortly followed by EU GDP and American CPI inflation later this afternoon. As ever, stay one step ahead of the markets and keep in touch with your CI account manager.