The markets are all up sharply today. It seems as if the murder of MP Jo Cox has put paid to the small chance of a BREXIT win and that the financial industry is now assuming that any BREXIT will not happen. It is not just the FTSE but markets all across Europe which are showing gains of 2 – 3+%. Even in japan and Hong Kong, markets are buoyed by the apparent risk of a BREXIT receding. Gold is down by about 1%.
markets 20th June 2016 c1300 — Reuters
The relief in the markets is palpable.
Of course, there is still a faint possibility that BREXIT could win, but elections, like markets, depend upon mood. There is plenty of anti-EU sentiment which will not go away so easily. But the dominant mood now, I think, is that Jo Cox’s murderer cannot be seen to have won. For the markets, better the blundering and fumbling EU and the ECB than the uncertainty of a BREXIT.
BREXIT died with Jo Cox.
The k2p blog 
June 20, 2016 at 1:59 pm
Jo Cox?
June 20, 2016 at 2:04 pm
Thanks. Corrected. Fingers are faster than my brain – probably a warning sign.
June 20, 2016 at 4:28 pm
No problem.
I saw an online petition requesting that the referendum be cancelled after Jo’s death. I’m not sure what that would achieve. Well my overseas postal vote is in, so we’ll just have to see what the outcome is. I wonder how reliable the financial sector speculations are?
Have you written anything about why Cameron called the referendum at all? And why now?