Friday, July 07, 2017 10:31:28 AM
A New Hope for the Pound
The United Kingdom's currency seems to have finally slowed its descent - could it be ready to start recovering?
The future of the British currency became quite uncertain the weeks leading up to the Brexit vote last June, then slumped after the results came through. Now it seems that for the first time in 2017 investors are changing their views on the pound for the better. However, this pertains to the pound vs the dollar; where the euro is concerned, the situation is different.
This discrepancy could be easily explained. For one thing, investors expected a lot more from the US economy, mostly riding on Donald Trump’s promised goals as president, especially his vow to bring economic growth up to 3%. This is easier said than done, as we’ve seen. Lukewarm reports from the United States, as well as Trump’s general struggle to enact any kind of policy successfully have made investors lower their expectations. We’ve even seen the dollar drop against all major currencies in recent weeks.
The situation is pretty much the opposite with the eurozone. The European Central Bank is in the midst of a massive stimulus program to encourage healthy inflation and spending. Even though the expectation was to see it continue a bit longer, the program is already paying off and surprisingly good economic data from all around Europe has prompted the ECB to admit they may start phasing out the program before the year’s end and turn to a more hawkish policy on the euro. In addition, fears of further political unrest in the EU have been calmed by Macron’s victory in the French presidential elections in April. We still have to see what would happen in the German general elections this fall, but things seem promising for Angela Merkel. It was previously feared she might not gather enough support but after a successful equal marriage rights vote last week it seems likely that she would stay in power.
The United Kingdom's currency seems to have finally slowed its descent - could it be ready to start recovering?
The future of the British currency became quite uncertain the weeks leading up to the Brexit vote last June, then slumped after the results came through. Now it seems that for the first time in 2017 investors are changing their views on the pound for the better. However, this pertains to the pound vs the dollar; where the euro is concerned, the situation is different.
This discrepancy could be easily explained. For one thing, investors expected a lot more from the US economy, mostly riding on Donald Trump’s promised goals as president, especially his vow to bring economic growth up to 3%. This is easier said than done, as we’ve seen. Lukewarm reports from the United States, as well as Trump’s general struggle to enact any kind of policy successfully have made investors lower their expectations. We’ve even seen the dollar drop against all major currencies in recent weeks.
The situation is pretty much the opposite with the eurozone. The European Central Bank is in the midst of a massive stimulus program to encourage healthy inflation and spending. Even though the expectation was to see it continue a bit longer, the program is already paying off and surprisingly good economic data from all around Europe has prompted the ECB to admit they may start phasing out the program before the year’s end and turn to a more hawkish policy on the euro. In addition, fears of further political unrest in the EU have been calmed by Macron’s victory in the French presidential elections in April. We still have to see what would happen in the German general elections this fall, but things seem promising for Angela Merkel. It was previously feared she might not gather enough support but after a successful equal marriage rights vote last week it seems likely that she would stay in power.
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