Sterling remained the stronger currency of the week as it moved higher against the G10 peers. News about the agreement on Brexit divorce bill raised optimism to investors. Greenback and the single currency are challenging to have the second strongest performance as both had a positive week against almost all the major currencies.
The best performance this week was created by sterling as it traded higher versus the G10 basket. The GBP/USD pair had a significant bullish run on Thursday and surged 0.9% as the prospects for the E.U. – Brexit deal brighten. Unfortunately, the Senate did not vote on the bill yesterday and the marathon debate will continue today. Susan Collins stated that she is still “committed” to the bill. As the clock is ticking to next month’s E.U. summit, those headlines and the Brexit talks gave to traders the hope that the negotiations are following a meaningful progress.
U.S. dollar and euro moved higher against almost all the G10 counterparts this current week. The U.S. stocks jumped on the back of strong indications that Donald Trump’s tax-cut plan may get enough support to pass through the Senate. Shifting to Eurozone, the unemployment rate of October was released yesterday and dropped to its lowest level in nearly nine-year to 8.8%, whilst the annual preliminary CPI for November came in weaker pace than expected to 1.5%, however, it ticked up from 1.4% the previous month. The rise wasn’t as large as the market was awaiting, but these reports show growth and inflation moving in the right direction.
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