Brexit reduces uncertainty for investors in the U.K.

Article Excerpt

Investors don’t typically like uncertainty, and the prolonged negotiations about the future business relationship between the U.K. and the EU was a main contributor to weakness in both the country’s stock market and its currency over the last few years. Between June 23, 2016—the day of the referendum—and December 24, 2020, when agreement on the future business relationship was reached, the main British stock market index declined by 11%. At the same time, the MSCI All Country Equity Index increased by 56%. Note, though, that while Brexit was a big factor, the withdrawal process was not the only reason for the underperformance of British stocks. Other factors include falling oil and gas prices, which hurt the contributions of majors energy firms, including Royal Dutch Shell and BP, to the index. Meantime, since the start of this year, the U.K. market has outperformed the global market index and has now gained 20% over the past three months. The British pound was also hurt by Brexit…