The new year has begun after a year that was mostly dominated by Brexit uncertainties, the ongoing US-China trade war and a subsequent slowdown in global economic growth. While the risks of both Brexit and the trade war appear to be receding, there are enough reasons why 2020 could be just as volatile as far as global financial markets are concerned.

The Brexit saga is likely to remain in focus into this year as well, as even though the UK Parliament has passed the bill to take Britain out of the EU by the end of this month, there is still uncertainty on whether Britain will be able to finalize trade agreements with other nations within the transition period which is scheduled to end by December 31, 2020.

Meanwhile, the trade war is also expected to hold on to its limelight as markets eagerly look forward to how the second phase of negotiations between the US and China progress. Given that the agenda for the next phase consists of bigger issues like forced technology transfers and IP protection, things could just turn more volatile on the issue of the trade war in 2020.

Later this year, the US Presidential elections can also have a significant impact on global markets. While recent news of Trump’s impeachment remained largely ignored, campaigning for elections is not going to go unmissed. Expect Trump to announce radical fiscal boosts to keep markets buoyed as he seeks to get reelected into office.