A sluggish morning continued this Friday, with the pound taking another lurch into the red following the somewhat unsurprising news that two legal Brexit challenges have been thrown out of court in Northern Ireland.
Losing 0.3% against both the dollar and the euro sterling is back on the slide, the currency seemingly to take little to no solace in yesterday’s better than expected third quarter GDP reading. Even the FTSE couldn’t raise a smile at the pound’s latest losses, the UK index dipping by 15 points to leave it on track to close a week under 7000 for the first time since the end of September.
Over in the Eurozone the CAC gradually managed to claw its way back into the green, investors reversing their earlier judgement of France’s 0.2% GDP growth across the third quarter. The DAX, on the other hand, fell by 50 points, admittedly half of the drop it saw when the European session began.
Looking to this afternoon and GDP remains in focus, with the advance US Q3 reading released before the market opens. Analysts are expecting a sharp increase quarter-on-quarter, from 1.4% to 2.5% at the annualised rate. That could spell trouble for both the Dow Jones and the pound if investors decide to take that rise as a green light for the Federal Reserve to raise rates in its post-election meeting in December, an eventuality that admittedly first requires a Clinton victory.
