The Impact of Political Elections on Currency Values

Political elections are big business in the world of forex trading (foreign exchange) because they can have a major impact on currency values. As a result, investors’ reaction to the results of these election plays a big role in investor sentiment and therefore the demand and value of the national currency. The forex market is a market of currencies being traded at all times and a major currency react strongly to global events and political events such as elections are a big deal in the forex market. Traders and investors watch these developments closely, studying political developments because they see how currency values could be affected by the uncertainty that political changes leave in place of market stability.

In any country political election results have the potential to have an influence over its currency in a number of ways. So, for example, if there’s a stable election outcome that makes for continuity in policy, it will make a currency stronger. Such scenarios generally attract investors as it indicates the nation’s financial’s stability and encourages the country’s economic growth. On the other hand, if an election gives rise to political instability or doubts as to the outlook of economic policy, there will be depreciation. But in such cases, traders may wish to hedge out their positions or turn to safer currencies, such as the US dollar or Swiss franc, until the political situation becomes clearer.

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Forex trading has a very pronounced impact from political elections in a country that has the emerging market or the country which is too heavily depended on exports. These nation’s currencies might go up and down in market value because of stock market response to possible policy change that will eventually change trade relations, foreign investment and economic development. For example, the case of short term volatility in a currency would occur in the event of an election that alters tax policies or foreign trade agreements significantly, etc. Such times are characterized by sudden shifts that traders must be on the lookout for, so they can manage risk, and take advantage of the opportunities that these shifts present.

On top of that, the forex traders who are good at reading markets charts can utilize political uncertainty as an opportunity to make a profit. Imagine in the elections where there is not clear result, or the election outcome has potential impact on the economic policies, the currencies can easily lose their value. The volatile nature of currency rates on the part of traders means they can utilize technical and fundamental analysis to predict direction and magnitude movement within the short term in currency values and make money from fluctuations in exchange rate. Yet, such eras should also be proceeded with great care, as markets are notoriously unstable in the short period following elections.

And another important issue is that central banks tend to change monetary policy in response to the results of elections. For instance, if an election causes leadership change, the central bank may adopt new interest rate or inflation targets policies that will directly affect a country’s currency value. Therefore, the underlying policy changes that will affect some currency pairs must be known by forex traders, well informed in advance to better enable to determine which currency pairs could be affected by it.

In the forex trading market, there is a huge effect of political elections in currency values. Elections create uncertainty and therefore influence investor sentiment and market behaviour; whether it’s through the uncertainty they bring or the new policies they introduce. Those forex traders that continue to pay attention to politics and comprehend the political implications will be better off because they will be prepared to treat the changes that this would bring and be able to make profitable trading decisions themselves.

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Matt

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Matt is Tech blogger. He contributes to the Blogging, Gadgets, Social Media and Tech News section on TechScour.

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