Dollar stays firm, but sterling skids on Brexit day

Surging US consumer confidence bolsters outlook for global growth

Asian shares inched upward on Wednesday while the dollar and commodities held gains as investors shook off disappointment about US President Donald Trump’s failed healthcare bill and focused on an improving outlook for global growth.

The good cheer did not extend to the pound, which was on the skids as the British government sent a letter to Brussels formally starting the coun- try’s exit from the European Union ( EU).

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia- Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.2 percent and back toward a recent 21- month peak. Australia’s main index climbed 0.8 percent to its highest since mid- 2015.

Japan’s Nikkei added 0.1 percent, with a number of exdividend stocks cutting around 130 points from the index.

The Dow snapped an eightday losing streak on Tuesday, its longest run of losses since 2011, in part as a survey showed consumer confidence surged to a more than 16- year high.

The Dow ended the day up 0.73 percent, while the S& P 500 gained 0.73 percent and the NASDAQ 0.6 percent.

The dollar bounced from a four- month low as a top Federal Reserve official talked of more rate hikes to come while political uncertainties surrounding the UK’s exit from the EU pressured European currencies.

Stanley Fischer, vice chairman of the Fed, one of the more influential policymakers with markets, said two more rate increases this year seemed “about right.”

The pound shed a further 0.3 percent to $ 1.2414 after British Prime Minister Theresa May signed a letter notifying the EU of Britain’s intention to leave the bloc.

The Brexit letter will likely trigger years of uncertain negotiations that will test the endurance of the EU. That came a day after the Scottish Parliament voted in favor of a second independence referendum that would break up the UK.