Pound Tumbles amid Growing Brexit Uncertainty

GBP

The British pound declined against major currencies following the latest Brexit developments. Prime Minister Theresa May postponed a parliamentary vote on her proposed Brexit deal which was supposed to take place today. May decided to take this step after it became clear that she would lose the vote. She will now go back to Brussels for more "reassurances" from the EU leaders on the Northern Ireland border plan. The GBPUSD traded at a twenty-month low of $1.2506, and the GBPJPY fell to a four-month low of 141.17.

USD

The dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies rebounded from a three-week low of 96.36 to settle at 97.19. Recently, the growing expectations that the Fed could pause its monetary policy tightening cycle weighed on the dollar. However, the greenback rallied on safe-haven bid amid mounting risks from Europe. The US treasury yields ended almost flat with 10-year yields steady at 2.87%. The USDJPY rose to a one-week high of 113.36, and the EURUSD dropped to a low of $1.1350.

Equities

Major US indices erased sharp losses supported by the strong rebound of the tech sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures bounced off a seven-month low of 23894 to settle at 24475, the S&P500 futures finished at 2643 after touching an eight-month low of 2587, and the Nasdaq futures closed at 6695.

Metals

Gold prices remain to hover near a five-month high of $1250 supported by the growing market risks and uncertainty. Meanwhile, the silver and palladium settled slightly lower at $14.48, and 1226, respectively.

Oil

Oil prices drifted lower amid signs of a global economic slowdown. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed that money managers cut their bullish bets on oil prices to the lowest in more than two years. The West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost 2.4% to $50.87, and the Brent futures declined 2.3% to $59.87. The American Petroleum Institute will report the US weekly crude oil stock later today.

Major Economic Events

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