Pound Holds Steady as May's Brexit Speech Lends Little Clarity

(Bloomberg) -- The pound was little changed against the dollar after Prime Minister Theresa May failed to provide any new details to currency traders on how Brexit negotiations would proceed.

• Sterling at $1.3786, still set for its second weekly decline. The pound weakens a 3rd day against the euro, losing 0.4% to 89.42 pence
• “No new news for GBP markets from May’s speech,” said Viraj Patel, currency strategist at ING Bank in London. “The pound in the near-term is primarily trading off odds of a transition deal being agreed over the coming month”
  • “The comment that this is close to being agreed and differences on a transition can be overcome - may keep the pound supported today, though we’ll need to see what the EU have to say here”
• In a speech Friday May said that neither the U.K. nor the European Union “can have exactly what we want”
• Yield on U.K. 10-year government bonds -3bps to 1.44%

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.