U.K. trading to open right after election

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Stacey Vanek-Smith: Tomorrow is election day in the U.K. — a new prime minister could be named. The election will also mark a new era of financial speculation. British investors will now be allowed to trade on the country’s election results immediately after the poll closes. From London, Stephen Beard reports.

Stephen Beard: The main futures market in London will be open for business at 1 am on Friday morning. That’s seven hours earlier than usual. The idea is to give traders time to absorb the results from what is shaping up to be a knife-edge election.

Stephen Lewis is with Monument Securities:

Stephen Lewis: This is an unprecedented decision. But the election is expected to generate a lot of business one way or the other because so much hangs on the result.

He says investors will be reassured by a decisive win for the conservatives They have pledged to start cutting Britain’s massive budget deficit immediately. Lewis says investors could be spooked by any other result. That could hit the pound and make it harder for the government to borrow. Some analysts say Britain could then become a Greek-style target for speculators.

In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.