The pound has risen by about 1% against the US Dollar and Euro today with suggestions that it is the news from Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party that prompted it. He won’t be putting up candidates in seats where the Conservatives won the vote last time when he was previously threatening to have candidates stand in all constituencies. This makes some sense because even if they have good candidates willing to stand, building a local campaigning organisation from scratch to get the vote out is not easy. It strengthens the probability of a Conservative win although there is still some risk because in marginal seats which the Conservatives hoped to win but lost last time there could still be a split vote.
The result has been quite significant on my portfolio with companies with large overseas revenues and profits falling while UK dominated businesses rose. That was particularly so with Greggs (GRG) who are up 16% on the day after a trading statement that indicated overall sales were up 12.4% for the last 6 weeks and year end figures should be even better than expected. Sales growth continues to be driven by increased customer visits apparently but as many of their outlets are now not on the High Street I suggest that should not be seen as a revival for other retail businesses. But Greggs certainly seem to have a winning formula of late as they consistently report positive news.
I tend not to react to short term changes in exchange rates because the impact can be more complex that first appears. I will not therefore be taking any steps as a result. In any case my overall portfolio is up 0.5% on the day so this might just reflect more confidence that the political log-jam will finally be resolved in a few weeks’ time. Investor confidence has a big influence on markets of course.
Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogerWLawson )
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