WSJ City: Sterling Slides as Brexit Bill Passes Parliament, UK Firms Prepare to Leave EU

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MUST READS FROM WSJ CITY

MPs and Peers have removed the final hurdle to Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan to start talks on the UK leaving the European Union, a milestone moment that sets the stage for unwinding 40 years of close and complex cross-Channel ties. The PM’s spokesman wouldn’t give a date that May would trigger talks, but signalled she would do so at the end of the month. WSJ City

No one knows how Britain’s departure from the European Union will affect business, but many companies already are making strategic moves to better prepare for their post-Brexit futures. WSJ City

With a Federal Reserve rate hike almost fully priced in by the markets on Wednesday, investors will be squarely focused on Janet Yellen’s press conference and the central bank’s so-called ‘dot plots’ for clues about future moves on monetary policy. Here’s a snapshot of economists’ views on the meeting and its possible impact on the markets. WSJ City

The Fed could revive a pesky problem for China’s central bank, depending on the signal it delivers about the path of US interest rates. If enough negative yuan wagers accumulate, the People’s Bank of China might even decide to intervene in the offshore market, analysts say. WSJ City

One of the basic rules of markets is being violated. Investors usually hate uncertainty, but since the US election, days of rising uncertainty have often been accompanied by higher stock prices, writes James Mackintosh in his Streetwise column. WSJ City

Dutch voters are heading to the polls on Wednesday, in a highly anticipated general election seen as a bellwether for how nationalist, populist forces will fare later this year in other key European nations. Here’s what you need to know. WSJ City

IN THE PAPERS

Theresa May will not invoke Article 50 before March 27 despite anticipation that the Prime Minister would choose today to make the historic announcement. Telegraph

May is preparing to reject Nicola Sturgeon’s demand for a second referendum on Scottish independence within the next two years. The Times (£)

Charlotte Hogg’s role at the Bank of England is in the balance with a parliamentary committee report likely to fall just short of recommending her for the post as deputy governor. FT (£)

Leaked Whitehall papers reveal that Brexit faces fresh hurdles, with Parliament facing the prospect of passing at least seven controversial bills to prepare Britain for life outside the EU. The Times (£)

Manpower’s quarterly jobs survey has shown that employers are planning to hire at a slower pace in the second quarter of this year with the London and Edinburgh financial centres suffering sharp slowdowns. FT (£)

Britain is on track to tie up almost $70 billion worth of M&A deals in the first quarter, smashing last year’s total. The Times (£)

A Harvard University oil and gas expert who predicted the 2012 slide in prices has warned there is again a prospect the market is heading for “a substantial fall.” FT (£)

Yahoo has detailed a golden parachute of $23 million for chief executive Marissa Mayer as part of her planned departure from what’s left of the company after it sells its core assets to Verizon. WSJ

MARKETS TODAY

The pound was lower in early European trading after the path to Brexit was cleared late on Monday while European stocks were mixed ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday.

Sterling was down 0.6% at $1.2141 after the House of Lords dropped two proposed amendments to the bill, paving the way for it to clear parliament. The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% while Europe's Stoxx 600 index was down 0.2%.

Analysts said trading will likely be cautious in the stock market ahead of the Fed’s decision this week. Though an interest rate rise is almost universally anticipated, investors are waiting to see whether officials offer a signal about the pace of further tightening this year.

“It’s the calm before the storm,” said David Lafferty, chief market strategist at Natixis Global Asset Management. “The market is still coalesced around three tightenings this year, but there’s certainly room for four."

COMING UP

MPs quiz the Institute for Fiscal Studies on the Spring Budget while the ONS publishes its annual review of the ‘shopping basket’ of goods and services used to measure inflation.