With only a few weeks left before the Brexit transition deadline, Forex traders are hopeful that the Prime Minister's meeting in Brussels will yield a positive outcome. Boris Johnson is due to meet with the President of the European Commission later today to discuss the few sticking points that have thus far found no compromise. Markets are still hopeful that the differences will be narrowed and an agreement signed soon. Thanks to an optimistic shift in market sentiment, the pound sterling was able to recover most of the losses that it incurred in yesterday's session, though it remains weighed by uncertainty.
In London, as of 11:23 am, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.334, down 0.2333%; the pair has ranged from a session high of $1.33869 to a low of $1.33225. The EUR/GBP was trading higher at 0.9083 pence, up 0.3314% and edging away from today's peak of 0.90914 pence.
EU Data Lifts Euro
The EUR/USD was trading higher after the release of growth data for the Eurozone earlier today. Eurostat reported that 3rd quarter growth had fallen slightly to 12.5% from an expected 12.6% on a quarterly basis, and was slightly better than expected at -4.3% (against a forecast of -4.4%) on an annualized basis. The EU employment change figure for the quarter was considerably better at 1% against a predicted -2.8%, up from 0.9%. The ZEW survey reading of December's Economic Sentiment for the EU was higher at 54.4, an improvement from the previous reading of 32.8. Similarly, the same survey for Germany was much improved at 55, higher than analysts' predictions of 46 and well above the 39 for the previous period. The EUR/USD was trading at $1.212, a gain of 0.0966%.