NEW YORK, March 28, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The British pound gyrated Wednesday,
initially rallying on Prime Minister Theresa May’s dramatic appeal for her
Brexit plan but later walking back the gains.
May pledged to step down if parliament backs her EU divorce deal, a vow
that immediately boosted the British currency against the dollar and euro.
The dramatic gambit, just ahead of votes on last-minute Brexit
alternatives to replace May’s twice-rejected deal, pushed the British pound
to close to $1.3270.
However, the pound was back down at $1.3189 at 2100 GMT as the prospects
for May’s plan still looked dicey, with the hard-line Democratic Unionist
Party in Northern Ireland continuing to balk at the proposal.
British MPs also voted late Wednesday against eight alternative Brexit
options aimed at overcoming the deadlock over May’s unpopular divorce deal.
The latest Brexit travails came on a mixed day for global stocks, with
Wall Street again wobbling on worries about slowing global growth.
Investors have been weighing how seriously to view a big drop in 10-year
US Treasury bond yields in recent session, traditionally a sign of medium-
and long-term economic weakness.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note on Wednesday fell to its lowest
level since December 2017.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1 percent to finish at
25,625.59, about 200 points above its session lows earlier in the day.
“Buyers showed up during the second part of the session,” said Adam Sarhan
of 50 Park Investment, who considers the market’s jitters over bond yields
overblown.
But “if the bond market is right, then the stock market can go down
further,” Sarhan added.
Among individual companies, Boeing rose 1.0 percent as it unveiled
proposed changes to flight software on its 737 MAX aircraft, which have been
grounded following two deadly plane crashes in five months.
Boeing’s plan came as the head of the Federal Aviation Administration,
which must approve the fixes, faced tough questioning from Congress
concerning its certification of the planes.
Earlier, European equities finished little changed, while Asian equities
mostly rose.
– Key figures around 2100 GMT –
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3189 from $1.3212 at 2100 GMT on Tuesday
Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.26 pence from 85.32 pence
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1244 from $1.1266
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 110.51 yen from 110.64 yen
New York – DOW: DOWN 0.1 percent to 25,625.59 (close)
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.5 percent at 2,805.37 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 0.6 percent at 7,643.38 (close)
London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,194.19 points (close)
Frankfurt – DAX 30: FLAT at 11,419.04 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.1 percent at 5,301.24 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.1 percent at 3,322.04 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 21,378.73 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 0.6 percent at 28,728.25 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.9 percent at 3,022.72 (close)
Oil – Brent Crude: DOWN 14 cents at $67.83 per barrel
Oil – West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 53 cents at $59.41 per barrel