The GBP/USD pair rose to weekly highs near 1.24 on Thursday.
Initially, the pair fell after the release of weak data on business activity in the UK services sector, but the fall was short-term, and the pair remained within the weekly range.
Now it remains to be expected whether GBP/USD will be able to develop growth on a "bullish" course or will it encounter resistance at local highs.
Meanwhile, less than a month remains until October 31, which means that Brexit is already so close that it is almost at hand. In this regard, the most difficult negotiations are underway right now. For proponents of the release of Great Britain from the European Union, this may be the last chance to say goodbye to their continental neighbors, and for Brexit's opponents, this is the hardest attack on the position of their opponents, led by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson himself. He is trying to find a shaky compromise, but it seems he will still have to take radical measures.
On the eve of B. Johnson announced his final EU proposal for Brexit. The British prime minister quite unexpectedly made some concessions to the EU regarding the question of the Irish border. This is a key issue in Britain's exit from the bloc. Maintaining a transparent border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland virtually eliminates the essence of Brexit, and the creation of a rigid demarcation line can lead to unrest on Green Island. Moreover, this is absolutely unacceptable to European leaders. Now B. Johnson has provided a plan that they can accept. The British prime minister proposes to keep Northern Ireland in a single EU market, but at the same time remove all the UK lands from the common customs space. This will mean the emergence of control both on the Irish border and on maritime borders between EU states and the United Kingdom.
It should be recognized that this proposal is far from the very "ideal" deal that the EU was waiting for, but better than what was offered earlier. Now the Northern Irish border will not cease to be transparent and will not provoke the separation of the island into two parts. This was also noted by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland Leo Varadkar. According to him, the proposed deal does not fully meet the agreed goals. Nevertheless, he stated that he would like to continue negotiations and sign this agreement.
EU officials' reaction to Johnson's proposal was controversial. Thus, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, welcomed the determination of the prime minister of the United Kingdom to make progress on Brexit. The representative of Brussels at the talks with Great Britain Michel Barnier, in turn, noted that progress was made in the negotiations, but stressed that there was still a lot of work. At the same time, the representative of the European Parliament Guy Verhofstadt said that the first assessment of Johnson's proposal was negative. Thus, he made it clear that they expect much greater concessions from Great Britain in order to seriously discuss the new agreement.
In such conditions, it seems more and more that Brexit without a deal can still happen. The European Union has not become more accommodating, and B. Johnson is still ready to withdraw his country from the EU at any cost. This can explain the intention of the British prime minister to suspend the work of the national Parliament again. Recall, the last time his initiative was considered by the Supreme Court of Great Britain and was declared illegal. In this situation, B. Johnson is going to ask the Queen of England for a short respite: only until October 14 to prepare the initiatives that will be voiced in the traditional "speech from the throne", which opens the next session of Parliament.
Apparently, B. Johnson is trying to buy time to prepare Brexit and complicate the task of his opponents. It seems that the proposal for an EU deal was indeed the last. Great Britain enters the zone of increased "turbulence", and the ship's commander asks everyone to fasten their seat belts.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com