GBPUSD & GBPAUD, H1
Sterling is under pressure after three hours of “lively and interesting” talks between UK PM Johnson and the European Commission President von der Leyen and their chief negotiators last night failed to find a way round “significant obstacles.” Talks will continue, and a new deadline has been set for Sunday, with the leaders promising that a “firm decision” will be made then, though UK foreign secretary Raab said that talks could still be extended. Either Johnson will have to decide whether the disruption of a no-deal is worth the risk, and/or von der Leyen will have to persuade EU leaders to budge during the group leaders’ summit today and tomorrow. The BBC’s Europe editor Katya Alder reported that EU diplomats are ready to go the extra mile, but contrary to the UK government view, the EU thinks the ultimate decision for deal or no deal lies primarily with the UK.
Our hunch is that a deal will still be reached, though Johnson will need some concessions from the EU as he will have to sell any deal to the influential faction of Brexit ideologues in his party. Sunday is the first anniversary of his 80-seat General Election win. The EU’s demands on fishing access to UK waters and governance, and in particular retaliatory measures if the UK diverged from EU rules, are on terms that Johnson singled out yesterday, just ahead of his trip to Brussels, that “no prime minister could accept.” He has some wiggle room, as he could argue that leaving the EU in some alignment of its rules is the pragmatic option in the Covid era, and that the UK could diverge from EU rules over time. A no-deal scenario would not come without potentially significant political risks to Johnson, and would see Scotland’s SNP step up demands for an independence referendum. The European Commission said it will publish “very narrow” no-deal contingency plans to maintain aviation and functioning borders.
The Pound has dropped over 0.5% against the Dollar in falling to the lower 1.3300s, and has seen a similar magnitude of decline against the Euro and other currencies. The USDIndex edged out a three-day high at 91.09, aided by the pound’s weakness, while EURUSD has lifted moderately after posting an eight-day low at 1.2059 yesterday. Elsewhere, the Australian Dollar has remained perky, posting a new three-month high against the Yen, and nearing the 29-month high seen against the US Dollar yesterday. Unsurprisingly GBPAUD is the biggest mover so far today (-1.30%). The pair rejected 1.8050 & closed under 1.8000 yesterday. The sell-off continued today from open, and has breached 1.7900 and trades below S3 to test 1.770. The fast EMAs aligned and are trending lower, RSI 29 and approaching OB, MACD histogram & signal line aligned lower, broke 0-line yesterday morning, Stochs OB from earlier. H1 ATR 0.0035, Daily ATR 0.0152.
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Stuart Cowell
Head Market Analyst
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