Brexit: Uncertainty weighs on sterling 

• Sterling weakened against the US dollar on Wednesday after a series of ‘indicative votes’ failed to secure a majority for any of the alternatives to the Prime Minister’s withdrawal deal;
• Among the most popular proposals were a customs union and a referendum on the final deal;
• There was further bad news for sterling on Friday when Parliament rejected Mrs May’s deal for a third time- by a smaller margin than before- despite her offer to resign if it passed.

Markets: Concerns over global growth push bonds higher

• A downward revision to US economic growth in the final quarter of 2018 put further pressure on treasuries which had rallied due to concerns about the global outlook and the likelihood of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Trade: US and China resume talks

• US equities rallied after Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin described last week’s trade talks with China as constructive and Beijing granted two US firms access to its financial markets.