AGL 40.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.16 (-0.4%)
AIRLINK 129.53 Decreased By ▼ -2.20 (-1.67%)
BOP 6.68 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.15%)
CNERGY 4.63 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (3.58%)
DCL 8.94 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.36%)
DFML 41.69 Increased By ▲ 1.08 (2.66%)
DGKC 83.77 Decreased By ▼ -0.31 (-0.37%)
FCCL 32.77 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.33%)
FFBL 75.47 Increased By ▲ 6.86 (10%)
FFL 11.47 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.06%)
HUBC 110.55 Decreased By ▼ -1.21 (-1.08%)
HUMNL 14.56 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (1.75%)
KEL 5.39 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.26%)
KOSM 8.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-6.46%)
MLCF 39.79 Increased By ▲ 0.36 (0.91%)
NBP 60.29 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
OGDC 199.66 Increased By ▲ 4.72 (2.42%)
PAEL 26.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.15%)
PIBTL 7.66 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.41%)
PPL 157.92 Increased By ▲ 2.15 (1.38%)
PRL 26.73 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.19%)
PTC 18.46 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (0.87%)
SEARL 82.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-0.7%)
TELE 8.31 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.97%)
TOMCL 34.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.12%)
TPLP 9.06 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (2.84%)
TREET 17.47 Increased By ▲ 0.77 (4.61%)
TRG 61.32 Decreased By ▼ -1.13 (-1.81%)
UNITY 27.43 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.04%)
WTL 1.38 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (7.81%)
BR100 10,407 Increased By 220 (2.16%)
BR30 31,713 Increased By 377.1 (1.2%)
KSE100 97,328 Increased By 1781.9 (1.86%)
KSE30 30,192 Increased By 614.4 (2.08%)

Britain's pound slipped to a one-week low versus the dollar and weakened against the euro on Tuesday on concern about Britain's future relationship with the European Union and ahead of a Bank of England meeting that could see an interest rate cut.

Ahead of the knife-edge BoE rate decision on Thursday, sterling has been pushed and pulled this month by speculation over whether an imminent rate reduction is likely. Money markets price in a 52% chance of a 25 basis point cut to the base rate, currently at 0.75%.

But with Britain formally set to leave the European Union on Friday, concerns about future UK-EU relations are also coming back into focus, analysts said.

The EU will "never, never, never" compromise on the integrity of its single market, its chief Brexit negotiator warned Britain on Monday, saying London must now face reality after underestimating the costs of leaving.

"It's been a case that Brexit issues have been off the agenda for a while, but there are now some signs of friction between the two sides as negotiations are gearing up, and that might be a source of consternation," said Jeremy Stretch, head of G10 currency strategy at CIBC Capital Markets in London.

He also noted an article by the Times newspaper reporting that Brussels believes EU judges should have the power to rule on any post-Brexit agreement with the UK as a potential explanation for early sterling weakness.

Sterling fell as much as 0.5% to $1.2986, its lowest since Jan. 20.

The British currency was 0.4% weaker against the euro at 84.70 pence, its lowest Jan. 22.

Market positioning data released on Friday by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission suggests that, though speculators have slightly reduced net longs in sterling, they hold a substantially large long position.

Those long positions are likely to remain under pressure this week before the central bank decision in a broader market that is wary of adding to risky positions.

Other major currencies were broadly stable with the dollar hovering at an eight-week high as investors focused on the economic fallout from the new coronavirus that has killed 106 people in China.

Copyright Reuters, 2020
/

Comments

Comments are closed.