Showing posts with label Brexit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brexit. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

World stocks, sterling fight back after Brexit beating

Tue Jun 28, 2016 5:11am EDT Related: HOUSING MARKET, DAVOS
LONDON | BY MARC JONES
Reuters

World stocks rose for the first time in three days and sterling and the euro climbed on Tuesday, as investors made a rush for Brexit-bashed assets hammered by some of the biggest falls since the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Bargain hunting trumped still widespread uncertainty over Britain's vote to leave the European Union, as the bloc's leaders, including soon-to-be-ex UK Prime Minister David Cameron, headed for their first post-vote meeting in Brussels.

European shares .FTEU3 jumped 2.4 percent in early trading having plunged over 10 percent since Friday.

How Britain Could Exit ‘Brexit’


The Interpreter
By MAX FISHER JUNE 27, 2016

The New York Times

WASHINGTON — In the days since Britons voted to leave the European Union, the so-called “Brexit” referendum has created such severe turmoil that public attention is increasingly focused on an extreme option: Can they get out of it?

Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday that he considered the referendum binding and that “the process of implementing the decision in the best possible way must now begin.” But he also said he would leave that process to his successor, after his expected resignation in October. This opens a window of at least four months during which time Britain could decide not to proceed, and avoid consequences from Europe.

'Why are you here?' Juncker asks Brexit lawmakers

Tue Jun 28, 2016 4:53am EDT Related: WORLD

Reuters

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker asked lawmakers of Britain's anti-EU UKIP on Tuesday why they had attended a European Parliament session to discuss the consequences of the British vote to leave the bloc.

"We must respect British democracy and the way it has expressed its view," Juncker said in a speech to parliament, words that were greeted by rare applause from the UKIP members present.

Monday, June 27, 2016

Having Won, Some ‘Brexit’ Campaigners Begin Backpedaling

By STEPHEN CASTLEJUNE 26, 2016

The New York Times

LONDON — Freed from the shackles of the European Union, Britain’s economy would prosper and its security would increase. Britain would “take back control” of immigration, reducing the number of arrivals. And it would be able to spend about 350 million pounds, or about $470 million, a week more on health care instead of sending the money to Brussels.

Before Thursday’s referendum on the country’s membership in the 28-nation bloc, campaigners for British withdrawal, known as Brexit, tossed out promises of a better future while dismissing concerns raised by a host of scholars and experts as “Project Fear.”

But that was before they won.

With financial markets in turmoil, a big drop in the pound and the prospect of further chaos, some supporters of Brexit are backpedaling on bold pronouncements they made just a few days earlier. “A lot of things were said in advance of this referendum that we might want to think about again,” Liam Fox, a former cabinet minister, told the BBC, including when and how Article 50 — the formal process for leaving the European Union — should be invoked.

Brexit: France and Germany 'in agreement' over UK's EU exit

37 06 2016
BBC

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have said they are in "full agreement" on how to handle the fallout from the UK's decision to leave the European Union.
Mr Hollande warned that "separated, we run the risk of divisions, dissension and quarrels".
The two will hold talks later in Berlin amid a flurry of diplomatic activity in the wake of so-called "Brexit".
The pound fell further in early trading in Asia on Monday as markets reacted.
UK Chancellor George Osborne made a statement before the start of trading in the UK in a bid to calm markets.
He said the UK was ready to face the future "from a position of strength", although he accepted the economy would have to confront challenges and that further volatility on financial markets was likely.

Nervous Greeks worry Brexit may lead to Grexit

By Richard Galpin
BBC News, Athens
26 June 2016
BBC

Its people and government are embittered by the imposition of harsh austerity measures by the EU and IMF.
Those bailout conditions have brought years of deep recession and high unemployment, but have done little to reduce Greece's huge debt burden.
And as a frontline country in the migrant crisis, Greece feels let down by Brussels and EU member states, in its struggle to cope with the arrival of more than a million refugees and migrants over the past 18 months.
The anger shows in a pan-European survey published by the Pew Research Center earlier this month, in which Greeks top the table in their response to many of the questions asked.
For example, 71% of those who took part had an unfavourable view of the EU - far higher than in the UK.
More than 90% disapproved of the way the EU was handling economic issues and the migrant crisis.

Sterling and euro struggle as Brexit shock lingers

 Mon Jun 27, 2016 3:37am EDT
LONDON | BY ANIRBAN NAG

Reuters

Sterling stayed under siege on Monday, holding above a 31-year low against the dollar, with sentiment distinctly sour after Britain opted to exit the European Union, triggering shockwaves across global markets.

The euro was also under pressure, pulled down by sterling, as Brexit clouded the future of the European Union. Safe-haven currencies like the yen and the Swiss franc extended gains, much to the discomfiture of the Japanese and Swiss central banks.

Sterling was down 1.8 percent at $1.3460 GBP=D4, having hit a trough of $1.3228 on Friday, its lowest since 1985. It recovered from a low of $1.3356 struck in Asia on Monday after British Chancellor George Osborne sought to assure markets that he was staying on and that the economy was in good shape.

Friday, June 24, 2016

Brexit: what happens when Britain leaves the EU

Updated by Timothy B. Lee on June 24, 2016, 12:20 a.m. ET

Vox

Voters have voted in favor of Brexit: British exit from the European Union. That means that in the coming months, British and European leaders will begin negotiating the terms of Britain's departure.

Britain's exit will affect the British economy, immigration policy, and lots more. It will take years for the full consequences to become clear. But here are some of the most important changes we can expect in the coming months.

The process of leaving the EU will take years

A Brexit vote is not legally binding, and there are a few ways it could theoretically be blocked or overturned. However, as the BBC notes, "it would be seen as political suicide to go against the will of the people as expressed in a referendum."

Britain shocks world: breaks with European Union, British leader steps down


The Washington Post

By Griff Witte, Karla Adam and Dan Balz June 24 at 3:51 AM
LONDON — British voters defied the will of their leaders and international allies by cutting ties with the European Union in a stunning result Friday that threw financial markets into turmoil and forced Britain’s prime minister to resign.

As Britain absorbed the ground-breaking news, the political fallout reached to the highest level with Prime Minister David Cameron saying he would step down after championing the campaign to remain in the European Union.

Five alarming immediate reactions to Brexit from the markets

By Zachary A. Goldfarb June 24 at 12:51 AM

The Washington Post

The United Kingdom voted Thursday to leave the European Union, a historic turn that underscored the deep fraying of the European political and economic union. It will take days, months and years to fully grapple with the consequences, but the earliest reactions from markets seemed to confirm experts' fears that Brexit would be deeply disruptive. While markets have previously been buffeted by global financial shocks -- including Greece's crisis last year -- many experts did not think the U.K. would actually take the gamble of leaving the E.U. It's certainly possible that markets will calm down overnight and throughout the weekend — no one can promise to offer an accurate forecast — but immediate signs from across the world were alarming.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Pound, Euro Rise Ahead of Brexit Vote


Recent polls suggest stronger support for the “Remain” camp easing investors’ fears

The Wall Street Journal

By CHELSEY DULANEY
Updated June 22, 2016 4:49 p.m. ET


The pound and euro rose against the dollar on Wednesday, as markets were relatively calm a day ahead of the U.K. vote on continued European Union membership.

The pound was recently quoted up 0.3% at $1.4691. The euro recently rose 0.5% to $1.1297.

The referendum over the so-called Brexit is scheduled for Thursday. The U.K. Treasury has estimated a British departure from the EU would drag down the pound by at least 12%. Analysts expect the euro also would be negatively impacted in the event of a Brexit, which could raise questions about the future of the 28-member bloc.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

For ‘Brexit,’ Like ‘Grexit,’ It’s Not About Economics

Fear of political union is why many in Britain dislike the EU; it’s what keeps the Greeks attached to the euro

The Wall Street Journal

By GREG IP
Updated May 4, 2016 1:50 p.m. ET
9 COMMENTS
Britain’s flirtation with leaving the European Union is as puzzling as Greece’s stubborn desire to stay. After all, Britain’s economy has done quite well inside the bloc while Greece’s has been decimated.

What explains both sentiments is that the European project has always been about more than economics. It also seeks “an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe,” as the Treaty of Rome, its founding charter, declared in 1957.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

A Greek View of Brexit

 Nikos Konstandaras
APRIL 25, 2016
The New York Times

ATHENS — Greeks, clinging precariously to our European Union membership for the past few years, have watched with particular fascination while at the other end of Europe, Britons head for a referendum on June 23 to decide whether to leave the Union.

For around 200 years, Greece and Britain have been tied together. Britain, as a leading economic, political, military and technological power, has had inordinate influence on modern Greek history. At the height of its imperial power, Britain was decisive in helping the Greeks break free of the Ottoman Empire; in World War II and the Greek civil war that followed, Winston Churchill fought to keep Greece in the Western camp and succeeded. Now both nations, from very different positions, pose a serious threat to the European Union.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

If Sterling Goes Down on `Brexit,' It's Taking the Euro With It

 Eshe Nelson

 Manisha Jha

 Chiara Albanese

February 23, 2016 — 2:00 AM EET Updated on February 23, 2016 — 12:36 PM EET

Bloomberg

Britain’s referendum on its membership in the European Union isn’t just a threat to the pound. It’s raising currency-market risks across the continent.
While the pound led declines among major currencies on Monday with its biggest slide since 2010, the euro had the second-largest drop, weighed down by signs of slowing growth. The cost of options protecting against losses on Europe’s 19-nation currency also jumped. The U.K.’s potential exit may damage trade and encourage other members to renegotiate their relationship with the EU, signaling scope for further losses in the euro in the run-up to Britain’s June 23 referendum.