31/ 01/ 2017

Ban causing chaos in markets

The highlight was Trump’s controversial weekend national address to the general public through Facebook’s live feature instead of using more conventional means such as standard news providers such as CNN due to his distrust in the media as he says they distribute “Fake News”.

The major highlight of the week is the 90 day Immigration ban and suspension of the US refugee program for 120 days for countries such as Libya, Syria, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Iraq. This has sparked wildfire in the social media and investors have also taken it in a negative manner causing the Euro and GBP to increase in strength.

29/ 01/ 2017

Week Ahead | Fed and BOE meet ahead of Non-Farm Payrolls

Central bank meetings will dominate a packed week as investors await for clues on policy direction, while a flurry of key data releases will also keep markets on edge. The US non-farm payrolls report and the flash estimate of Eurozone GDP will likely be the main highlights in terms of data.

But political developments with President Trump and Brexit could also impact trading where as a bigger risk for the pound, could come from the Brexit bill debate in parliament on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

26/ 01/ 2017

May to present Brexit Bill

UK Prime Minister is set to publish the bill to trigger Brexit in a first reading today. It will take an extended period to identify whether Brexit will be put into practice, and as a whole, whether Brexit will bring more benefits or adversity to the UK. If the Quarter 4 UK GDP figure is better-than-expected, it will be more favorable for the UK during the negotiation process with the EU.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May is set to visit President Trump on Friday 27th January in Washington – she will be the first foreign leader to visit the new US president. The discussion will, most likely, be comprised of the improvements in the trade and financial relations between the two countries, cuts of bilateral trade taxes. Theresa May expressed in a recent interview with the BBC that Trump would like to build a strong relationship with the UK.

25/ 01/ 2017

UK Supreme Court rules for MP vote on Brexit

UK was once again in spotlight as Supreme Court dismissed the government's appeal in a landmark case about Brexit, meaning Parliament will be required to give its approval before official talks on leaving the EU can begin. This ruling is significant, although it wasn’t unexpected is a huge setback for UK Prime Minister Theresa May. This resulted in GBP losing its gains made in Asian markets where it fell to a low of GBP/AED 4.57 from 4.61.

The government will now seek a quick vote in Parliament authorizing the use of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would start the two-year process of removing Britain from the 28-nation EU. Officials said legislation would be introduced "within days."