How not to trade the U.K. elections

Clearly – not so.

Just as with last year’s volatility in U.K. financial markets sparked by the Scottish independence vote, investors are concerned about what the closest General Election in decades will mean for markets.

There are indeed a few reasons to worry. The economy is fragile, and there is fear that a change of leadership could derail the nascent recovery. There is the threat of a “Brexit” from the EU – and all the uncertainty that would entail – if the Conservatives are returned to power.

And the main problem: it is unlikely we’ll get a clear, decisive outcome, and this could lead to gridlock and inaction in the next Parliament.

These are all reasonable concerns, but they will not have a major, lasting impact on the outlook for British financial markets.

Sterling has weakened against the dollar over most timeframes within the last year, and some reports link that decline to the election.

But for me it has far more to do with the fact that inflation remained at 0 percent in March for the second consecutive month. This has pushed interest rate rise expectations into 2016 for the UK, while they remain in 2015 for the U.S. Furthermore, on a trade-weighted basis, sterling has not even been weak – the U.K.’s main trading partners, who use the euro, have enjoyed a far more pronounced decline against the U.S. dollar.

The Bank of England’s latest figures show that foreign investors have reduced their holdings of U.K. government bonds by £14 billion since the start of the year. But headlines such as “Election jitters prompt gilts exodus” in The Financial Times are misleading. The yield on the 10-year gilt has been falling in recent months – it was close to 2 percent at the start of March, and it now sits below 1.7 percent. Year to date, the yield has also fallen.

CNBC