Pound dollar price: Pound surges after EU hints at compromise

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• The British
  pound is surging after European Union negotiator Michel
  Barnier hinted at major Brexit compromise.
• “We are prepared to offer a partnership with Britain
  such as has never been with any other third country,” Barnier
  said at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
• Traders welcomed his words, with the pound gaining
  close to 1% against the dollar on the comments.
• 
  Watch
  the British pound trade in real time here.
  

The British
pound has roared higher on Wednesday after the European
Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier suggested the bloc
is ready to enter into an unprecedented “third country”
relationship with the UK after it leaves the EU.

“We are prepared to offer a partnership with Britain such
as has never been with any other third country,” Barnier said at
a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.

The more conciliatory stance of Barnier, who has been one
of the strictest EU figures during negotiations, was looked on
favourably by traders in the pound, with the currency gaining
close to 1% against the dollar after the comments.

At 3.30 p.m. BST (10.30 a.m. ET), around 15 minutes after
he spoke, the pound is trading at $1.2993, a gain of 0.97% on the
day, as the chart below illustrates:

Markets
Insider

“While this doesn’t mean the EU’s red lines have changed –
in fact he explicitly confirmed that they must be respected,
along with the UK’s – it does suggest that more constructive
conversations can happen to find a workable solution that suits
both sides, should one exist,” Craig Erlam, senior market analyst
at Oanda said in an email.

“That’s a big change from the focus on punishing the UK for
voting to leave which appears to have been the case for the last
two years.”