- Pound jumps after reports UK and EU negotiators made another breakthrough on the path to Brexit.
- The pound has gained more than 1.1% against the dollar on Thursday morning.
- It had dropped sharply in the past week after Cabinet resignations over Prime Minister Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement.
Prior to Tusk’s comments, an EU official said on Thursday morning that a 20-page declaration had been finalized ahead of an EU summit on Sunday where Prime Minister Theresa May hopes to have the Brexit divorce deal signed off.
The news, which marks another major step forward in the Brexit process, sent the pound flying higher, gaining as much as 1.1% against the dollar, and passing back above the $1.29 mark, which it dropped below a week ago after a series of resignations from the British Cabinet.
Sterling does, however, remain below the level it was trading at when Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab resigned in protest at the deal.
“The reaction itself is more telling than its magnitude. Optimism still remains in the market and sterling’s ability to explode at the blink of an eye is captivating,” Simon Harvey, a market analyst at Monex said in an email.
By 10.40 a.m. GMT (5.40 a.m. ET), it was trading at $1.2910, a gain of 1.15%, as the chart below shows:
Markets Insider
The pound has taken off after reports that UK and EU negotiators have made another breakthrough on the path to Brexit.European Council President Donald Tusk said on Thursday morning that a political declaration on the UK and EU’s future relationship “agreed at negotiators’ level and agreed in principle at political level.”
Source: Business Insider UK