By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The pound recovered some losses Monday as Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly adopted a friendlier stance on talks concerning fishing quotas, sparking hopes of a Brexit deal.
GBP/USD fell 0.29% to $1.3481, but had fallen more than 2% early-Monday morning.
Johnson made an amended proposal on fishing quotas allowing the EU to keep about 66% of its catch in UK waters, well above a previous of just 40% tabled last week, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources. Talks still hang in the balance, however, as there remain differences on how to enforce any quotas, the report added, citing unnamed officials.
The report of an improved offer from the UK comes just a day after the UK and EU missed yet another deadline to wrap up talks, with just days to go until the year-end transition deadline.
The news helped the pound cut its losses following earlier pressure as a mutant strain of Covid-19 prompted fresh lockdown in parts of England.
More than 40 countries including Canada, Spain, India and Hong Kong banned incoming UK flights, while France has temporarily shuttered its borders with Britain, sparking disruption to supply chains and fresh worries about the UK economic recovery.
The general sentiment on sterling, however, is one of cautious optimism as the speculators cut some of their bullish bets on the currency, according to FX positioning data for the week ending Dec. 15. The latest data showed speculators cut their long positions on sterling by 2,000 contracts.