- Euro recovers after being weighed by Brexit, Italy worries
- Canadian dollar falls to five-week lows
(Recasts with Brexit report, updates prices)
The euro and British pound rallied against the U.S. dollar on Friday after Bloomberg News reported that British Prime Minister Theresa May is ready to drop a key Brexit demand in order to make a deal for Britain to leave the European Union (EU).
May is willing to drop a requirement on the issue of the Irish border, which has impeded the two parties coming to an agreement, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources.
EU negotiator Michel Barnier earlier said that a Brexit deal was 90 percent done, but warned that failure to resolve the Irish border question could derail any agreement.
The euro and sterling have been burdened this week by delays in the two parties reaching an exit deal. The single currency gained to $1.1512, after earlier falling to $1.1433 EUR= , the lowest since Oct. 9. It is down from $1.1621 on Tuesday.
The euro has good technical support at $1.1422-$1.1432, Citigroup analysts said. Sterling GBP= rose to $1.3067, after earlier probing a two-week low of $1.3009. Investors taking profits on bets against the euro before the weekend also helped support the single currency on Friday.
“The market has added to shorts considerably during the week and so I’m not surprised that the down move ended today,” said Greg Anderson, global head of foreign exchange strategy for BMO Capital Markets in New York, noting that traders are “taking profit on a short that’s worked for them.”
Ongoing concerns about Italy’s spending proposals, however, are likely to remain a negative for the currency.
The European Commission on Thursday sent Rome a letter calling a draft budget an "unprecedented" breach of EU fiscal rules, the first step of a procedure that could end with Brussels rejecting the budget and fining Italy.
Canada’s dollar dropped to a five-week low after Canadian inflation and retail sales data came in weaker than expected.
The data is seen as unlikely to divert the Bank of Canada from raising interest rates again next week, though the inflation miss may make the central bank less likely to take a more hawkish view when doing so.
“After the last meeting they discussed taking the word ‘gradual’ out of their communications and this cements ‘gradual’ will remain in communications,” Anderson said.
U.S. data on Friday showed that U.S. home sales fell in September by the most in over two years.
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 1:24PM (1724 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1512 $1.1452 +0.52% -4.03% +1.1534 +1.1433 Dollar/Yen JPY= 112.5000 112.1800 +0.29% -0.15% +112.6400 +112.1500 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 129.53 128.49 +0.81% -4.18% +129.6600 +128.4700 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9977 0.9955 +0.22% +2.40% +0.9977 +0.9950 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.3067 1.3017 +0.38% -3.29% +1.3103 +1.3012 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3118 1.3085 +0.25% +4.30% +1.3132 +1.3027 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7122 0.7099 +0.32% -8.70% +0.7149 +0.7090 arEuro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.1486 1.1402 +0.74% -1.74% +1.1491 +1.1392 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8810 0.8797 +0.15% -0.82% +0.8832 +0.8776 NZ NZD= 0.6586 0.6541 +0.69% -7.06% +0.6607 +0.6524 Dollar/DollarDollar/Norway NOK= 8.2108 8.2756 -0.78% +0.05% +8.2802 +8.2094 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.4545 9.4796 -0.26% -4.00% +9.4872 +9.4420 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.9866 9.0408 -0.11% +9.57% +9.0537 +8.9823 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.3463 10.3581 -0.11% +5.14% +10.3630 +10.3229
