Markets are digesting the results of the big recent events.
Here are 4 tips for today's trading. This will help you decide where you should invest and what to look for:
1. U.K. elections shock results
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan to achieve a “strong and stable” government backfired as the Conservative Party lost its majority in the results of the general elections announced on Friday.
With 647 of 650 seats declared, the Conservatives had won 316 seats. Though the biggest single winner, they failed to reach the 326-mark they would need to command a parliamentary majority. Labour had won 261 seats.
With no clear winner emerging from Thursday's election, a wounded May signaled she would fight on, despite calls from the opposing Labour Party to step down.
2. GBP crash on results
Britain's pound took a big hit on Friday after Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority in elections.
The hung Parliament has the potential to disrupt Brexit negotiations with the U.K. scheduled to begin talks on June 19 to leave the European Union.
The currency dropped 1.74% by 09:50 GMT to 1.2731.
3. Global stocks move higher
Global stocks traded higher, looking past the British Conservative Party’s failure to achieve a majority, as they breathed a sigh of relief after putting the risk event behind them.
Another calming sign was the fact that former FBI director James Comey’s testimony on Thursday failed to produce a “smoking gun” that could derail the political situation in the United States.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street in a session with no major economic reports at 9:53 GMT, the blue-chip Dow futures rose 0.15%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.14% and the Nasdaq 100 futures edged forward 0.09%.
4. Gold drops on stronger dollar
Gold prices slid lower on Friday, as the dollar regained some ground after Thursday’s three major risk events, and markets looked forward to a widely expected rate hike from the Federal Reserve (Fed) next week.
Gold for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange sank $2.83, or around 0.2%, to trade at $1,276.67 by 9:59 GMT, while the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.47% at 97.41.
Markets had priced in a 90% chance that the Fed will tighten policy on June 14, increasing interest rates by 25 basis points.
Still, markets remained skeptical that the American central bank would make another move before the year’s end with odds at only around 37%.
