The pound has failed to make any gains on the US dollar today after a slew of UK data releases, which were generally overshadowed by continuing Brexit discussions. The most important release today was the UK’s GDP figures for November which showed an increase of 0.2 per cent, meaning the UK economy continued to grow late into last year. However, these were followed by the UK’s manufacturing production figures for November which showed a worse-than-expected decrease of -0.3 per cent. Prime Minister Theresa May continues to try and gain MPs’ backing for her Brexit withdrawal deal today.
It comes following calls yesterday from Jeremy Corbyn who demanded a general election to “break the deadlock” over Brexit, leaving pound investors anxious.
The pound remains subdued today, with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Jeremy Hunt, commenting that if the Brexit deal is rejected “ultimately what we may end up with is not a different type of Brexit but Brexit paralysis. And Brexit paralysis ultimately could lead to no Brexit.”
The pound has failed to gain against the US dollar, despite the ‘greenback’ being held down by the continuing partial US government shutdown.
US President Donald Trump remains determined to secure funding for his Mexican border wall election promise, amid an increasingly bitter division between the White House and Congress.
Mr Trump commented that if Congress failed to grant funding for the wall he would “probably… almost say definitely” declare a national emergency, which he declared was an “absolute right”.
US dollar investors will be awaiting today’s range of US consumer data, with the most significant being the latest Consumer Price Index excluding food and energy, with any signs of slippage potentially buoying the pound against a generally weak dollar.
Later on we will also see the publication of the US monthly budget statement.
However, with the Brexit parliamentary vote on Tuesday next week the pound is likely to fluctuate as fears of a Brexit ‘no-deal’ continue to dampen confidence in Sterling.