The Pound is now trading at its highest level to buy Euros since the start of November after rumours circulated that the UK are trying to get a deal agreed between themselves and the European Union.
Figures have been suggested of approximately €50bn for the ‘divorce bill’ and this appears to have been taken very well by the currency markets. Indeed, the Pound is now trading at its best level to buy US Dollars since September, and apart from then we are at the highest rate all year, which is great news for anyone looking to send money to the United States.
The next meeting will take place in the middle of the month at the EU summit. The key topics are likely to include the divorce bill as well as the Irish border issue which is still yet to be resolved. This could be a real sticking point for the talks as clearly both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland do not want to have a physical border between the two nations. Indeed, this could put a real halt on things and this could cause the Pound to really come under a lot of pressure.
The main catalyst for rates changing will be the next EU summit and although we have a number of economic data releases due next week the talks will be the most important topic for what will happen to the Pound in the run up to the festive period. However, we could see some movement on Tuesday as there are a number of announcements both here and on the continent.
The UK will announce the latest Services data for November and the Eurozone will also release their latest Retail Sales data so we could see some volatility during the early part of next week for the Pound versus the Euro.