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

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.

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

To contact the reporter on this story: Anooja Debnath in London at adebnath@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ven Ram at vram1@bloomberg.net, Keith Jenkins

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