With a majority of 8-3 the Supreme Court stated that Theresa May and co. will have to seek parliamentary approval before it pulls the Brexit trigger; however, it will not have to consult the devolved parliaments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, meaning the Leavers among the Tory party were dealt the softest blow of the possible outcomes. And with Jeremy Corbyn already saying that Labour will ‘not frustrate the process for invoking Article 50’ the hurdles the government faces to get proceedings underway are of the eminently clearable kind.
All this meant that the pound didn’t get the boost it was looking for, instead dropping half a percent against the dollar, falling away from yesterday’s 5 week highs in the process, while shedding 0.3% against the euro. As for the FTSE, it could only take minor pleasure in sterling’s slide, rising 25 points to hover around 7175.The UK index’s gains no doubt would have been substantially larger if it were not for BT; the telecoms giant continued to plunge by 18% this Tuesday following the surprise statement about the costly Italian accounting nightmare, with CEO Gavin Patterson piling on the misery by stating that the UK market is slowing during a post-update conference call.
Looking ahead to this afternoon and it’s hard to see much challenging BT or the Supreme Court decision for dominance. The Dow Jones is set to rise a paltry 10 points when the bell rings on Wall Street, with its flash manufacturing PMI and existing home sales readings still to come.
