According to experts, the British pound declined due to Brexit fears. The GBP/USD pair went down by 0.47% to 1.2691. A number of large enterprises are getting ready to leave the UK in March 2019.
The manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in the UK reached its 6-month highs in December 2018. The uncertainty around the UK’s exit from the European Union triggers some tensions and pushes the management of British companies to keep abreast of the situation. Voting on the bill regarding the Brexit terms should take place before the end of January. However, the British Parliament struggles to agree on the Brexit deal’s conditions, therefore, it remains a question whether this bill will be approved.
Currently, the euro is giving in to the US dollar. The EUR/USD pair dropped by 0.2% to 1.1438. However, the greenback weakened against the Japanese yen: the USD/JPY pair fell by 0.7% to 108.94. In the meantime, the GBP/USD pair decreased by 0.5% to 0.7011. The USDX, a trade-weighted mean of the US dollar’s value relative to the basket of six major world currencies, changed slightly reaching 95.77.
Market players are worried about further developments in the US-China trade conflict as well as political instability in the US where the shutdown of government continues.
