The Pound Sterling continues to surge higher against its major peers with the uncertainty of a no-Brexit outcome seemingly less likely as the days progress toward the March deadline. It is now a more probable outcome that the British government will push back the deadline to allow for more time to settle the myriad trade differences. That news helped propel the Pound to a 5-month peak against the Dollar and a 21-month high versus the Euro. Analysts say that though traders will likely still have some jitters given the extension, the more immediate threat of a hard crash has at least abated.
As reported at 10:38 am (GMT) in London, the GBP/USD was trading higher at $1.3301, up 0.3592% and off the session peak of $1.3304. The EUR/GBP is trading lower at 0.8571 Pence, a loss of 0.2549%; the pair has ranged from a trough of 0.85673 Pence to a high of 0.85969 Pence.
New Deadline Likely June's End
Currency strategists say that the Prime Minister is likely to drive a hard bargain in order to reach consensus before the new deadline, which is likely to be at the end of June. The European Union has issued its own ultimatum saying that if Britain is still part of the EU trading block as of July 2nd it will be compelled to hold European elections. The vote which will decide whether or not to delay the March deadline is expected to take place in mid-March.