Pound set for biggest weekly rise in a month as Brexit fears fade
Sterling surged to multi-month highs this week after Prime Minister Theresa May said lawmakers would get to vote on a delay to Brexit if they choose not to approve her Brexit withdrawal agreement.
March 1, 2019
The pound was little changed on Friday but is still headed for its biggest weekly gain in a month as worries receded that Britain will crash out of the European Union without a deal.
Sterling surged to multi-month highs this week after Prime Minister Theresa May said lawmakers would get to vote on a delay to Brexit if they choose not to approve her Brexit withdrawal agreement.
Traders backed off forecasts for a no-deal Brexit and began to expect a delay of the departure date beyond the current March 29 deadline.
But those expectations have in turn been tempered after some lawmakers signaled their opposition to Ms May's offer of a vote on a delay.
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British farming minister George Eustice resigned from the government on Thursday and former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said Ms May's Brexit deal with the European Union needs to change, particularly on the issue of the Northern Irish backstop.
"Sterling had to retrace some of its spectacular gains recorded earlier on in the week ... a postponement is not something that the UK can chose as it pleases," Commerzbank strategists wrote in a note.
The pound edged 0.1 per cent lower at $1.3255 (Dh4.8679). For the week, it is up 1.5 per cent. Against the euro, the pound was flat at 85.72 pence.
Published: March 1, 2019 03:13 PM
