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Market Update

• Posted by currencies in Bank of England, Bremain, Brexit, coronavirus, EUR, GBP, No Deal, Prime Minister, Sterling, UK, Uncategorised
• September 28, 2020
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Britain may be heading for a no-deal Brexit in three months, but among traders in London the feeling so far is one of deja vu rather than a panicky rush to dump UK assets.

After Britain threatened to ditch parts of its European Union divorce deal this month, markets are pricing in a 40%-45% chance of exiting the EU trading bloc without any alternative arrangements at the end of 2020.

Yet as the four-year political crisis between London and Brussels enters what may be its final stretch, investors and companies are not stampeding as heavily to sell sterling or hedge against volatility as they did when no-deal Brexit risks intensified in the past.

The dollar hovered near a two-month peak against a basket of currencies, as doubts about recovery persisted ahead of a barrage of economic data and political developments in the United States.

While a rebound in U.S. stocks on Friday has helped to curb the ascent of the dollar, deemed as a safe-haven, signs of slowdown in the nascent recovery from the pandemic and political uncertainties have kept investors on guard.

The Government is reportedly planning to enforce a ban on socialising and household mixing across London and much of northern England to help curb the spread of coronavirus.

Under the new emergency lockdown, all bars, restaurants and pubs would be told to shut for two weeks initially, while households would be banned indefinitely from meeting indoors, the Times reports.