The British pound sterling fell sharply after British PM Boris Johnson announced he was asking for Parliament to be suspended from mid-September until mid-October ー a highly controversial move known as "progrogue" which was given formal approval by Queen Elizabeth II Wednesday.
Critics say the move is intended to keep MPs from avoiding a no-deal Brexit and plunged the British government into crisis once again, two months before a looming deadline. The surprise move drew immediate outrage from opposition leaders, and the leader of the Liberal Democrat party had even written to the queen in hopes of her witholding consent for the suspension.
At midday in London, the GBP was down 1 percent against the U.S dollar, a sign that investors once again believe the UK is increasingly likely to "crash out" of the European Union on October 31.
Johnson's plan would extend a previously planned suspension for political party conferences and would further shorten the time Parliament has to debate Brexit after it returns from its summer recess next week.
Other members of Parliament took to Twitter to express shock at the maneuver to keep Parliament from assembling.
An online petition to demand Parliament not be prorogued had received more than 300,000 signatures in a matter of hours. Meanwhile, word of organized protests spread across social media.
The news from London helped push Treasury yields lower in the U.S., which had already been under pressure over China trade tensions. The yield on the 30-year Treasury dripped below 2 percent ー a signal that the combination of geopolitical worries from London to Beijing is increasing the odds of a global recession.
Americans said credit was harder to access last month, according to a survey from the New York branch of the Federal Reserve. The March Survey of Consumer Expectations found that “respondents were more pessimistic about future credit availability as well, with the share of households expecting it will be harder to obtain credit a year from now also rising.”
Wall Street drifted through a muted day of trading Tuesday, with stocks and bonds making modest moves ahead of reports later in the week with the potential to move markets.
Cheddar News breaks down what to expect on The Day Ahead, as earnings from Albertsons and Carmax are on tap to be released while Fed minutes are due on Wednesday ahead of its meeting next month.
Karla Dennis, CEO and founder of Karla Dennis & Associates Inc., joined Cheddar News to explain what's needed in order to file for a tax extension and avoid penalties.
Irrigreen, an irrigation system startup that develops robotic sprinkler systems for homeowners and recently, recently secured $15 million in seed funding. Shane Dyer, CEO and co-founder of Irrigreen, joined Cheddar News to explain the benefits of the company's system that saves water with less equipment.
Automakers around the world are betting big on electric vehicles. Cheddar News took a peek at some of the models of the electric future at the New York International Auto Show.
Stocks closed mixed ahead of the release of more economic data. Matthew Johnson, president of Johnson Wealth & Income Management, joined Cheddar News to also weigh in on last week's jobs data and the status of the country's labor market and what that could mean for another Fed decision.
