Sigh of relief as Iraqi war uncertainty dissipates

THE success of the Anglo-US war on Iraq should push war concerns to the background and open the way for regular economic and results information to drive sentiment on world stock markets, economist Jim Power predicted yesterday.

“From the perspective of the markets, there has been an audible sigh of relief that the major uncertainty has been removed and for the moment, geo-political uncertainty should take a back seat in terms of driving market sentiment. This is not to suggest that geo-political uncertainty has gone away as a longer-term issue for financial markets, but for the moment it should move back into the background.

“The issues surrounding Syria, Iran, North Korea, and the ongoing threat of further terrorist attacks in the West are still very real, but are not paramount in the minds of investors now that the Iraqi war is reaching its conclusion,” said Friends First chief economist Jim Power.