poundSterling,PoundsterlingGBP/USD
The pound rose on Friday on a newspaper report that the U.K. government is contemplating some type of regulatory divergence between Northern Ireland the U.K. in an attempt to secure a Brexit deal.
According to The Times, Northern Ireland's DUP would be willing to accept some EU regulations following a U.K. withdrawal from the EU -- replacing the Irish backstop proposal -- raising some hopes of a new deal. But the DUP denied the report shortly afterwards.
GBP/USD jumped 0.8% to 1.2431 as of 10:35 AM ET (14:35 GMT) as traders continued to move out of short positions on sterling following the report.
The euro inched up, with EUR/USD rising 0.1% to 1.1071.
Elsewhere, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.1% to 98.243 as hopes of a trade truce between the U.S. and China lead to a safe-haven selloff.
Source : Investing.com