Yahoo Finance Pound Rises Despite Brexit Crisis; Yen Gains
Investing.com - The British pound rose on Thursday despite concerns that political turmoil in the U.K. could see it leave the EU on March 29 without a safety net.
The GBP/USD pair rose 0.2% to 1.2799 by 12:45 AM ET (05:45 GMT) even after multiple important ministers in the U.K., including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, resigned from Prime Minister Theresa May's government.
At least 16 members of her own Conservative Party have called for a vote of no confidence in May, citing dissatisfaction with her proposals, the CNBC reported.
Without a deal, the U.K. would move from seamless trade with the EU to customs arrangements set by the World Trade Organization for external states.
Sterling would sink as a result while bond yields on U.K. debt would also likely fall.
Meanwhile, the safe-haven yen has benefited from a deepening Brexit crisis and traded higher on Thursday. The USD/JPY pair dropped 0.3% to 113.4.
Elsewhere, the U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies was down 0.1% to 96.79.
The Commerce Department said on Thursday that core retail sales rose 0.7% last month, above economists’ forecast for a 0.5% rise, signalling ongoing strength in consumer spending.
The U.S. Department of Labor, meanwhile, reported Thursday that initial jobless claims rose by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 216,000 for the week ended Nov. 10, in line with economists’ forecasts.
The USD/CNY pair was little changed at 6.9410 as the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the yuan reference rate at 6.9377 vs the previous day's fix of 6.9402.
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