Brexit Optimism Lifts-up Pound and Euro, Dragging Dollar Down

The dollar was crawling toward its worst month since January 2018 on Monday as intermittent waves of Brexit optimism pushed the pound to a 5-1/2 month high and kept the euro’s bumper October intact.

Despite the failure of Britain’s “super-Saturday” to live up to its billing when UK lawmakers delayed a vote on a reworked Brexit deal, there seemed to be tentative hopes that it would eventually be passed.

Asia had dragged the pound 0.5% lower but it rebounded in Europe and briefly broke above $1.30 GBP=D3 for the first time in 5-1/2 months as the flow of headlines resumed.

A lawmaker from the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), whose votes could be vital to the deal passing, said it would not support a possible opposition party amendment to put the UK in a customs union with the EU.

Some interpreted that as suggesting it could support the deal, although there were plenty of other hurdles to clear, including whether the British Parliament’s speaker would even allow another vote at this stage.

Read here