Yahoo Finance Sterling Falls as Brexit Extension Uncertain
Investing.com - The pound was lower on Friday as confusion over whether or not the U.K. will leave the European Union next week continued, as the EU failed to reach an agreement on a Brexit extension.
The U.K. had asked the EU for an extension. U.K. lawmakers voted in principle for a Brexit deal on Tuesday but pushed against Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s timetable for passing a Brexit deal in three days.
Johnson has pushed for a general election but has faced backlash. The EU postponing their decision on an extension could put more pressure on the PM. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Friday he would agree to an election if a no-deal Brexit was off the table.
GBP/USD slumped 0.3% to 1.2815 as of 10:52 AM ET (14:52 GMT) while EUR/USD was down 0.2% to 1.1985.
Elsewhere, the U.S. dollar was higher as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week. Policymakers are expected to cut the fed funds rate by another 25 basis points, according to Investing.com.
The global trend of easing monetary policy seems to be expanding, with Indonesia and Turkey both cutting interest rates on Thursday. TRY/USD remained flat at 0.1735 against the U.S. dollar.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.2% to 97.558. The safe-haven Japanese yen was flat with USD/JPY at 108.60.
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