The pound was unable to read any clear direction in the tea leaves of the European election – Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party might have won, but support for the various parties explicitly backing Remain was just about higher – especially with the Tory leadership battle swallowing up so much attention.
As the list of Conservative candidates grows longer and longer – a herd of blue-rosetted MPs chomping at the bit to get their hands on the cursed chalice of Britain’s premiership, with Theresa May effectively acting as caretaker – the UK is sort of stuck in limbo, unable to fully move forward with anything Brexit-related until the next PM is found.
This was reflected in the pound’s performance on Tuesday. Against the dollar it dipped 0.1%, slipping back under $1.267 but avoiding last week’s lows (just), while against the euro it was sat flat at €1.133. That there were no real surprises during the European elections also prevented sterling from doing anything too drastic.
The FTSE, meanwhile, built on the rebound seen last Friday, resuming trading following Monday’s Bank Holiday by re-crossing 7300 with a 0.3% rise. The DAX, on the other hand, couldn’t scrape anything substantial together, with the CAC similarly sluggish at 5300.
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