Pound Panic Overblown to Analysts Eyeing Brexit Breakthrough
- Survey sees 68 percent chance of Brexit progress by year-end
- Sterling “priced in for the very negative scenarios”: CBA
Analysts are more optimistic than the U.K. government that an agreement will be reached with the European Union next month to move Brexit talks on to trade even as Theresa May’s political troubles continue to weigh on the country’s beleaguered currency.
A Bloomberg survey of seven banks pegged the odds of a Britain-EU accord in December at 68 percent. That’s more than Brexit Secretary David Davis, who put the chances of a breakthrough by December at 50-50, according to European business leaders he briefed at a Monday meeting. His spokesman denies he made the comment. Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Peter Kinsella sees the probability of a deal at 80 percent, the highest in the survey, with the lowest estimated by Mizuho Bank Ltd.’s Neil Jones at 35 percent.