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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National
Tim Baker

Pound to Euro exchange rate: Sterling value rises as chance of no-deal Brexit drops

What goes up...: Market crashes have historically come in October (Picture: AP)

The value of the pound surged today despite further chaos in Boris Johnson’s government.

With a no-deal Brexit looking less likely, sterling was looking more healthy against both the US dollar and the Euro.

Even the shock announcement that Mr Johnson’s brother Jo Johnson was resigning did little to deter markets.

At its peak around lunchtime the pound was worth $1.2347, a highpoint for the week.

Fears surrounding Brexit following the return of Parliament saw this figure drop below $1.20 on Tuesday.

(Danial Leal-Olivas / AFP / Getty Images)

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "The pound edged higher as Boris Johnson's Brexit strategy appeared in disarray.

"The move higher only serves to underscore the kind of headline risk and volatility we can expect to see over the coming weeks which will make sterling a tough currency to trade."

But the threat of general election means sterling could still prove volatile.

The House of Lords is currently debating and voting on a bill to prevent no-deal, and is expected to return to the House of Commons on Friday afternoon.

Earlier today the leader of the house Jacob Rees-Mogg confirmed that Parliament would stay open next week to finish dealing with the bill.

But he also said that another motion calling for an election would tabled on Monday.

Jacob Rees-Mogg slouching in the House of Commons earlier this week (AFP/Getty Images)

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at London Capital Group, said: "Johnson's defeat gave a breather to the pound markets, although the game is not over yet for the GBP bears.

"Boris Johnson could announce a snap election by October 14 to seek support from British voters to get the Brexit done, with or without a deal.

"An election as early as next month could give another shake to the sterling, but even a tiny hope of preventing Johnson from crashing out of the EU without a deal could help the currency consolidating support near the 1.20 level against the US dollar and eventually recovering a part of the recent weakness."

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