European Parliament Backs Withdrawal Agreement

Following a debate in Brussels yesterday evening, The European Parliament backed the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement put forward by Boris Johnson. This was approved with by staggering 621 votes in favour, with 49 against. A major milestone in the Brexit agreement which was somewhat already expected, following news last week that it cleared the committee stage. This bodes well for the UK to leave 11pm Friday evening. Following this result, the debate did become slightly emotional with Farage taking his chance to rub it in the face of the European politicians, triggering Parliament’s Vice-President Mairead McGuiness to turn off his microphone stating ‘put your (Union Jack) flags away, you are leaving.’ Not everyone was so cold with the likes of Ursula von der Leyen stating that the British MPs ‘wit, stubbornness and charm’ will be missed.

In terms of UK data, Mark Carney will announce whether or not the UK will cut its interest rate. A decision which has left markets unsure on which way it’s going to go, with a 50-50 split between raising and dropping rates. This will be Carney’s final rate decision and will be sure to affect the markets. The Quarterly Inflation Report is also due out and may be the deciding factor on the rate cut which the markets will be looking out for come 12:00 GMT.

US

The FED decided to leave interest rates unchanged at the much expected range of 1.5% - 1.75% leaving a rather muted market reaction. Other US Data out today is Gross Domestic Product figures which comes out at 13:30 today with a consensus at 2.1%, the same at the previous quarter. In other news, the Greenback has continued to benefit as a safe-haven currency with the uncertainty surrounding the Cornovirus.

At the time of writing:

GBPUSD – Trading above 1.29 at 1.2994

GBPEUR – Trading above 1.1 at 1.1792

EURUSD – Trading above 1.10 at 1.1018

The figures are based on the live mid-market rate, correct as of 08:30 GMT on 30/01/2020, and are provided for indicative purposes only. Live mid-market rates are not available to consumers and are for informational purposes only. The rates we quote for money transfer can be selected via the page on our website ‘Live Money Transfer rates’.

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