INSTANT VIEW-Market reaction to UK PM Johnson's hospital admission

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital for tests on Sunday in what Downing Street said was a "precautionary step" because he was showing persistent symptoms of coronavirus 10 days after testing positive for the virus. The pound last traded down 0.1% in illiquid weekend markets, recovering some of the steeper losses made in the minutes after the news.

- Viraj Patel, a strategist at Arkera said on Twitter "Pound lower in early Asia trading on news that UK PM Boris Johnson has been admitted to hospital. Move being quickly faded, rightly so,"

"This was not a market event". - Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Cambridge Global Payments in Toronto, Canada.

"Currency markets are in risk-on mode in anticipation of a break in the OPEC-Russia impasse, so this news has had little impact - but I wouldn't be surprised to see some weakness in the coming hours, particularly if it becomes clear that government officials other than Johnson and Hancock have contracted the virus. Among those who were in attendance at the same briefings, (finance minister Rishi) Sunak seems particularly vulnerable. "But the UK is still winning the reverse beauty contest. With a strongly expansionary fiscal policy framework, solid coordination between the government and monetary authorities, and increasingly favourable interest rate differentials against the dollar, the pound is well-positioned relative to the euro."

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)