The Pound Sterling reversed course on news that the Brexit deadline has been extended by the European Commission. The Prime Minister, Theresa May, told reports that she appreciated the postponement even as she urged Parliamentarians to begin the process of determining what their next move should be. The deadline has been extended out to April 12th, and another vote in Parliament is scheduled for next week.
As reported at 10:20 am (JST) in Tokyo, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.3127, up 0.892%; the pair is moving well off Thursday's low price of $1.3004. The EUR/GBP is trading at 0.8657 Pence, down 0.1384%; the pair has ranged from 0.86576 Pence to 0.86740 Pence.
Japanese Inflation Mixed Bag
In Asian trade, Japan's Statistics Board reported that core inflation rose 0.7% in February (year-over-year), beating expectations but slowing from the previous reading of 0.8%. Analysts say that that data simply reinforces the fragility of the economic recovery in Japan, especially given the escalation of trading tensions between China and the United States. Slowing growth in China has weighed on both business sentiment in Japan as well as on exports. The USD/JPY was trading at 110.7240 Yen, down 0.1065%; the pair is near midpoint of the session trading range which is 110.668 Yen at the low end and 110.898 Yen at the upper end.