Pound Retreats As May Dismisses Reports On Extending EU Customs Union
17 May 2018 - 6:25PM
RTTF2
The pound retreated from its early highs against its major
counterparts in the European session on Thursday, as the U.K. Prime
Minister Theresa May denied reports that Britain was preparing to
stay in the European Union's customs union beyond 2021.
Refuting a report published by The Telegraph newspaper, May said
that Britain will be leaving the customs union after the transition
ends.
"Of course we will be negotiating future customs arrangements
with the European Union and I have set three objectives; the
government has three objectives in those."
"We need to be able to have our own independent trade policy, we
want as frictionless a border [as possible] between the UK and the
EU so that trade can continue and we want to ensure there is no
hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland," she added.
The pound retreated to 0.8752 against the euro, reversing from
near a 3-week high of 0.8713 hit at 2:15 am ET. Next key support
for the pound is likely seen around the 0.89 level.
Data from the Eurostat showed that Eurozone construction output
fell for the third straight month in March.
Construction output dropped 0.3 percent month-on-month in March,
slower than the 0.7 percent decrease in February, which was revised
from a 0.5 percent fall reported earlier.
The pound dropped to 1.3474 against the greenback, after rising
to 1.3569 at 10:00 pm ET. On the downside, 1.33 is likely seen as
the next support for the pound.
Having advanced to a new 2-week high of 149.84 against the yen
at 5:15 am ET, the pound reversed direction and eased to 149.06. If
the pound continues its fall, 147.00 is possibly seen as its next
support level.
Data from the Cabinet Office showed that Japan core machine
orders fell 3.9 percent on month in March.
That missed expectations for a decline of 3.0 percent following
the 2.1 percent increase in February.
The pound edged down to 1.3501 against the Swiss franc,
following a 2-day high of 1.3570 hit at 2:00 am ET. The next
possible support for the pound is seen around the 1.32 level.
Looking ahead, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended May
12 and leading index for April are scheduled for release in the New
York session.
The Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane will give
speech at the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence Conference
on Economic Measurement in London at 12:00 pm ET.
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