British Instruments Take A Dive As Brexit Looms

Remember Brexit? Well, believe it or not, video meetings between key ministers and civil servants have continued apace. Like it or loathe it, Britain’s pending, protracted and not altogether painless withdrawal from The Bloc is still on course to happen.

Today, we’ve planned a jolly-good Brexit catch-up and will check out how some of the UK’s most famous instruments are getting on, before giving you a rundown of the most important events coming up this week. Grab your tea and cucumber sandwiches and Tally ho!

Something fishy is going on

“Very little progress” isn’t exactly a promising statement, but that’s exactly how the UK government has described progress in talks with the EU of late. According to the UK’s chief negotiator David Frost, a far-reaching free trade agreement is being held hostage by the EU’s desire to “bind” the UK to its laws and seek unfair access to fishing waters.

The word “stalemate” is being bandied about, which is less than encouraging. Progress needs to be made, and soon.

Speaking of progress, let’s peek at some of the most notable instruments Blighty has to offer and see how they’re faring in the buildup to Brexit.

1. GBP/EUR

Price on 01.01: 1.18€

Price on 15.05: 1.11€

2020 High: 1.20€

2020 Low: 1.06€

YTD Percentage change: — 5.93%

GBP/EUR (YTD)

Source: Yahoo Finance

2. Tesco (TSCO)

Price on 02.01: £2.56

Price on 15.05: £2.40

2020 High: £2.57

2020 Low: £2.11

YTD Percentage change: -6.25%

TSCO (YTD)

Source: Google

Price is shown in GBX

3. BP (BP)

Price on 02.01: £4.81

Price on 15.05: £2.97

2020 High: £5.04

2020 Low: £2.34

YTD Percentage change: -38.25%

BP (YTD)

Source: Google

Price is shown in GBX

4. Premier Oil (PMO)

Price on 02.01: £1.00

Price on 15.05: £0.27

2020 High: £1.19

2020 Low: £0.13

YTD Percentage change: -73%

PMO (YTD)

Source: Google

Price is shown in GBX

5. Diageo (DGE)

Price on 02.01: £31.83

Price on 15.05: £27.43

2020 High: £32.76

2020 Low: £22.00

YTD Percentage change: -13.82%

DGE (YTD)

Source: Google

Price is shown in GBX

6. Royal Mail (RMG)

Price on 01.01: £2.32

Price on 15.05: £1.76

2020 High: £2.32

2020 Low: £1.24

YTD Percentage change: -24.14%

RMG (YTD)

Source: Google

Price is shown in GBX

Ouch, that’s a lot of red! Not great reading for investors of some of the UK’s premier instruments. Can the UK government pull the rabbit out of the hat, landing a trade deal that boosts these flagging tradeables? Time will surely tell!

This week’s market events

Here’s what to watch this week.

● We kick things off on Monday with Japan’s preliminary GDP Growth Annualised (JPY).

● We’ll get an important employment update from the UK (GBP) on Tuesday.

● A busy Wednesday starts off in the UK for an inflation rate announcement (GBP); followed by similarly important inflation announcements from the EU (EUR) and Canada (CAD). Finally, we’ll hear the FOMC meeting minutes (USD).

● Finally, not to leave Japan out, on Friday we round off the week with an inflation update from the Bank of Japan (JPY).

That’s it for this week’s trading preview. If you like what you’ve read here then get in touch with us ASAP. If you want to engage your traders with content we’re here for you.

Speak soon,

The Contentworks team