Boris Johnson’s hopes of getting his Brexit deal fast-tracked through Parliament were lost on Tuesday evening following a defeat in a vote for his Brexit timetable in Parliament. The Government won the previous vote on the deal legislation to progress- however, the time available to scrutinise and amend the bill was not long enough to satisfy Parliament.
Ahead of the vote, Boris Johnson threatened to abandon the bill and push for a general election-however following the defeat, Johnson said he would pause the legislation instead, and wait for the EU’s answer about an extension.
We saw GBPUSD fall from 1.2980 down to 1.2860 after the vote, and GBPEUR fall from 1.1640 down to 1.1580- the positive to take from this, is that now a No Deal Brexit looks extremely unlikely, the Pound will remain more resilient than it has been over the last couple of years, and as good news emerges about the UK leaving the EU, this can only get better over time.
It is pretty unclear what the Government wishes to do next in regards to this Brexit deal, so we will have to watch and see what happens to look at the next moves.
Moving on to Europe, the ECB meeting on Thursday will be the highlight of this week, as it is Mario Draghi’s last speech- markets will be watching to see what the current state of the EU economy is and how the Central Bank plans to help. Next week the Fed is expected to cut interest rates, so expect a lot of volatility in Euro and Dollar exchange rates.
If you are looking at strategies for your FX exposure moving forward, then please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.