Pound Falls As EC's Juncker Warns Of Tougher Second Phase Of Brexit Talks
December 15 2017 - 4:36AM
RTTF2
The pound declined against its major counterparts in the
European session on Friday, after the European Commission President
Jean-Claude Juncker warned of tougher talks in second phase of
Brexit negotiations than the first, as the discussions moved to the
next stage.
Juncker was speaking at the EU summit in Brussels, where the EU
27 leaders formally authorized the talks to move on to the second
phase.
"I have extraordinary faith in the British Prime Minister. She
has agreed with me and Mr Barnier that the withdrawal agreement
will first be formalised and will be voted on and then we will see.
The second phase will be significantly harder than the first and
the first was very difficult," Juncker told.
The second phase of talks will be dominated by discussions on a
transition period as well as the terms of the future trading
relationship after March 2019, when the U.K. leaves the EU.
The U.K. PM Theresa May has been granted three months to reach
an agreement on the government's perception of a future trade deal
with her cabinet, in order to enable the start of substantive talks
on the future relationship.
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the decision to
move on to phase two is "quite significant progress," but that is
an even tougher piece of negotiation than the first.
The pound held steady against its major rivals in the Asian
session, with the exception of the greenback.
The pound dropped to a 2-day low of 1.3319 against the greenback
and more than a 2-week low of 149.41 against the yen, from its
early highs of 1.3447 and 151.02, respectively. Continuation of the
pound's downtrend may see it challenging support around 1.32
against the greenback and 148.00 against the yen.
The pound weakened to a 2-day low of 1.3174 versus the Swiss
franc and 10-day low of 0.8860 against the euro, off its early high
of 1.3290 and a weekly high of 0.8760, respectively. If the pound
slides further, it may find support around 1.31 against the franc
and 0.90 against the euro.
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