Third times a charm

Fiona Cincotta
By :  ,  Senior Market Analyst
The FTSE is leading European markets in a rally this morning, having gained ground following Parliament’s decision to delay Brexit last night. In London a mixture of mining, oil industry, housing and pharma stocks are trading higher while the pound slipped slightly against the dollar. 

More voting next week 

After a third night of voting this week here is where we stand: MPs will vote next Tuesday for a third time on Theresa May’s Brexit proposal and if it is accepted the PM will ask the EU to postpone Brexit until 30 June. 

Theresa May opted for one more vote despite being rejected by a vast majority twice because there are signs that Eurosceptics within the Tory party are shifting towards accepting the current deal rather than facing Britain staying in Europe for much longer. If British lawmakers reject the PM’s proposal yet again she will ask for a longer delay in Brexit which could stretch into a year or two. 


The markets took the outcome in a positive way and the pound, though a breath lower against the dollar, is still trading above $1.323. However, sterling is somewhat weaker against the euro, despite recent concerns over the slowdown in the European economy as the markets perceive that the impact of Brexit will still be felt in the UK economy in months to come.
  
Asian shares rally

Though the Sino-US trade negotiations have not been in the headlines in the last few days now signs that they are making progress ahead of the meeting between the two countries’ presidents have boosted Asian markets Friday. However, the two may meet slightly later than the initial date set at the end of March for negotiators to have time to thrash out all of the details of the deal. Shanghai stocks rallied 0.7% and the Nikkei rose 0.8%. However, US investors were more sceptical about the deal and the S&P and the Nasdaq notched lower at Thursday’s close.


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