British Pound Brushes off Mixed Confidence for UK Election Poll
DailyFX.com -
Talking Points:
The British Pound was unmoved as consumer and business surveys crossed the wires
Consumer confidence edged slightly higher while business sentiment fell to a 2016 low
Sterling was digesting prior losses as U.K. Conservatives fell short of a majority in a poll
What do retail traders’ buy/sell decisions hint about the British Pound trend?Find out here.
The British Pound did not show much of a reaction to a couple of sentiment surveys as they crossed the wires. The GFK consumer confidence index edged higher to -5 from -7, beating the -8 prediction. This was also the brightest outcome since January. The better-than-expected reading was accompanied by a drop in the Llyods business barometer which fell to 27 from 47, the lowest reading since September 2016.
Rather than weighing the implications of these surveys, the markets appeared to have their interests elsewhere. Earlier, a YouGov poll on the U.K. general election showed that the ruling Conservative party missed a majority by 16 seats. The survey also found that the opposition Labour party won 257 seats, up from 229 in the prior poll. Following the announcement, the British Pound declined across the board.
As Market Analyst Martin Essex mentioned, the Pound’s direction will be determined by opinion polls ahead of the June 8th U.K. general election.
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