Brexit fears continue to wreak havoc on the Pound Sterling which today fell to a 11-month trough on investor concerns. Analysts say that quite a few British companies are already beginning to hedge their bets and make plans to mitigate a worst case scenario, i.e. a “hard” Brexit. Earlier in the week, the country's trade minister stoked the fires by hinting that an agreement with the European Union might not be on the table when Britain leaves the trading bloc next March.
As reported at 11:22 am (BST) in London, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.2891, down 0.36%; the pair is coming off a 11-month trough of $1.2886 while the peak is at $1.2960. The EUR/GBP is up 0.38% and trading at 0.89966 Pence; the pair ranged from a low of 0.89613 Pence to 0.89974 Pence.
UK Data Eyed
While markets are looking forward toward the October summit between the Prime Minister and EU leaders, analysts say there is too much time between then and now for fears to grow. In the short term, market players will focus on Friday's release of a slew of data to help gauge the possible next move from the Bank of England. Besides preliminary GDP for the second quarter, also due out is industrial and manufacturing data for June, total business investment numbers, and trade balance figures.