What’s been happening? Despite a lack of political and economic developments on Thursday the pound was still able to push higher as investors turned their attention to the currency’s long-term outlook. Markets appear to have become a little more upbeat about Sterling’s prospects in recent days, especially in regards to Brexit. With both Spain and the Netherlands hinting last week that they would support the UK remaining closely aligned with the EU in terms of trade, and Jean-Claude Juncker suggesting that Britain could rejoin the EU after Brexit. Investors are also hopeful that positive progress in talks will help to clear up some of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. In addition to reassuring markets this may also facilitate another rate hike from the Bank of England (BoE) this year. At the same time, hints that the UK and EU are close to an agreement over a transition period are lifting the pound on hopes this will help to avoid a ‘cliff-edge’ Brexit next year. Finally the economic outlook is also looking a little brighter for the UK, with markets hopeful that Britain’s growth will continue to perform robustly in 2018. The pound performed particularly well against the US dollar yesterday as it climbed back above $1.39, close to striking its highest levels since the Brexit referendum. The uptick was in part thanks to the broad-based sell-off in USD, with markets remaining overly sensitive to any downside risks to the US currency. Meanwhile the euro showed a little more reliance against Sterling on Thursday, following some positive comments from the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Benoît Cœuré, although it left GBP/EUR still advanced enough to strike a new one-month high. | 
