Is an extended transition period the only option?

23 October, 2018

Grace Rae

With no major data releases of note yesterday, markets were once again open to the risk of Brexit news. With news reports being a bit contradictory yesterday, rates remained in limbo. The morning reports suggested that the deal was 95% done but throughout the afternoon ministers continued to battle over the ongoing Brexit setbacks. Theresa May had suggested that a short-term extension for the planned transition period could be the answer to allow for more time to resolve the Irish border issues. So ultimately the immediate outlook is still looking unclear and as a result, there is every chance the exchange rates could remain at these current levels with fears that further ground could be lost.

The Pound dipped yesterday afternoon against both the Euro and the Dollar, and although this isn’t the best news for those looking to sell their Pounds, we did see some better levels for those looking to repatriate funds back to the UK. Today there is a little more data out which is worth mentioning. We have two speeches out for the UK, this morning at 10:30 MPC member Haldane speaks follow by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney later in the afternoon at 15:20. Certainly, one to keep note of as he may provide more insight into what we can expect for the economy throughout the transition period and post-Brexit. Also this afternoon at 14:00 the Eurozone post Consumer Confidence and we have some minor releases for the US throughout the afternoon along with some FOMC Member speeches and the Fed’s Evans speak in the evening.

We could see another flat day today ahead of a busier timetable for eco stats tomorrow as we have Markit data for eurozone and US, Canada monetary policy and latest interest rate decision and New Zealand trade balance tomorrow.

If you have any upcoming transfers to make then do get in touch with us here at Currency Index and talk to one of our friendly brokers to be kept up to date on market movements and be informed about the various options we provide to help you secure your currency requirements.