After a soft week against the euro, the pound strengthened on Friday and is strong against both the euro and dollar this morning. This is due to news that the UK and the EU have committed to continuing Brexit negotiations throughout the year, despite reaching a stalemate last week.
The latest round of Brexit negotiations ended in deadlock, with the EU’s Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, confirming that a deal cannot yet be reached. The pound’s reaction suggests that the markets had been expecting this outcome.
We’ll see a series of data releases at the end of this week, including Industrial Production and GDP figures.
In the press briefing on Friday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock cited “encouraging trends” as the figures published by the Office for National Statistics show that the number of people who have coronavirus in England has fallen. However, he also added that there is “still so much to do.”
