The FTSE opened lower but shortly afterward started recovering as Diageo (LON:DGE) reported a good start to its financial year and Next showed an increase in pretax profits and maintained its profit guidance. The cautiousness in the market is a reflection of the unresolved Brexit issues and investors holding back before hearing from Mark Carney later this afternoon. The BoE is likely to sit on its hands this time until it hears whether Parliament will be back in session imminently, if there will be a general election and if Brexit will be postponed.
Sterling’s moment of calm, Brent higher
The Supreme Court is hearing a final set of arguments today regarding the legality of the suspension of Parliament and could potentially come to a decision before the end of the day. The pound is a little bit more stable this morning, trading above 1.247 against the dollar in what could be the calm before the next political storm, which is coming in the shape of the new Brexit deadline of September 30 given to Boris Johnson by the EU.
Brent crude is trading a whisker above $64 but could head higher after the US releases the details of its new set of sanctions on Iran announced late Wednesday. In the meantime, Saudi Arabia has confirmed that it believes Iran was behind this weekend’s attacks on its oil facilities.