Pound Holds Near Four-Week High Even as Barnier Damps Optimism
- Sterling still heads for monthly loss as Brexit talks continue
- Wednesday’s jump reflects stretched market shorts: C. Agricole
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The pound held near a four-week high as investors hesitated to take fresh positions on the currency amid a spate of crisscrossing Brexit headlines.
Sterling surged more than 1 percent Wednesday as traders covered short positions after the European Union’s Michel Barnier said that the U.K. could be offered an unprecedented partnership. It briefly slipped Thursday after the EU’s chief negotiator warned that a no-deal Brexit was still possible, only to recover shortly afterward. Implied volatility on one-month pound-dollar options rose to a two-week high amid alternating waves of bullish and bearish sentiment.