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Slight recovery for GBP -Dollar Weakens

• Posted by currencies in Bank of England, Brexit, Currency, Dollar, Economy, EUR, GBP, Sterling, UK, Uncategorised
• January 4, 2019
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Sterling rose this morning after suffering heavy losses spurred by fears of a global economic slowdown, but uncertainty about Brexit kept its gains in check.

The pound sank to its lowest since April 2017 yesterday after worries about the health of the global economy and particularly China sparked an investor exodus from currencies considered riskier.

Investors were awaiting a PMI survey for Britain’s much larger services sector which was released this morning, showing a gain to 51.2

The Services Purchasing Managers’ Index was forecast to come in at 50.7 for December, a small bounce after a precipitous fall in November.

Even though Sterling is mainly driven by Brexit uncertainty, the services data did help the pound.

Reduced expectations for a Bank of England interest rate rise in 2019 are also weighing on the pound, as are concerns about whether British Prime Minister Theresa May can convince lawmakers to back her Brexit withdrawal arrangement before a scheduled departure date in March.

The general feeling is May’s proposal does not have a great chance of passing the upcoming vote, in fact there is probably more chance of her pulling out again.

Debates to start next week. We expect major volatility going forward.