March 13, 2019 7:35 am est
by Tom Kadale, Contributor Market Analyst NewsMoves MarketsForex
The jury is finally out. Parliament has for the second time voted down Theresa May’s tentative Brexit agreement. Despite recently acquired legal assurances from Brussels of a limited back stop with Ireland, a major sticking point, the British Parliament would have nothing more to do with May’s two years of haggling with EU negotiators. What lies ahead is most certainly the growing uncertainty of the British economy.
Just as most FX traders have been baffled by the recent strength in the dollar, they have also shaken their heads in disbelief at Sterling’s rise. On the dollar, some argue that the dovish outlook from Powell and the disappointing 20,000 NFP numbers from last Friday hide the fact that the USD is fairing out better than its peers, …hence the show of strength is really ‘relative’ strength from an overall decline.
To some degree, could the same be said about Sterling’s recent strength? The UK economy is firing on all pistons fueled by historically low unemployment numbers and an increase in tax revenues from earlier this year. But, here is where the difference lies. Sterling’s ‘relative strength’ comes from an artificial demand founded upon frenzy, stockpiling efforts from both consumers and government buyers living in fear of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.
After March 29 when Article 50 is to be invoked, the British economy will return to a lower equilibrium point. The irony is that it no longer matters if Brexit is approved or not; nor if there’s a ‘no deal’ Brexit, a second referendum, or new elections.
The damage to the UK economy has already been done, because it will take months to work through the artificially bloated inventory of goods, especially among soon-to-be tight fisted consumers living in fear of losing their jobs to a forthcoming recession. Add unprecedented political uncertainty of the likes not seen for decades and Sterling strength will undoubtedly be short lived.
On the near term, we expect Cable to trade with high levels of volatility within a 1.25 to 1.35 range to start. Over the mid term… look for eventual spikes to give way to a predominant downtrend where it will potentially test a 1.14 low.
From the RagingFX Trading Desk…
Tom Kadale, Forex Algorithm engineer RagingFx.com
and Guest Contributor Market Analyst
for NewsmovesmarketsForex
