The pound is soaring on reports that UK and Irish leaders see a 'pathway' to a Brexit deal
- The pound is soaring after the British and Irish Prime Ministers signaled a Brexit deal could be on the horizon.
- The two leaders said they saw a "pathway" to a deal after private talks in a hotel in North-West England, the Financial Times reported.
- The pound jumped 0.7% on the news.
- Earlier this week the pound sank after reports that Germany saw a future deal with the UK as "impossible."
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The pound soared on Thursday afternoon after talks between the leaders of the UK and Ireland appeared to have gone well, boosting hopes of a deal before Britain leaves the European Union.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said in a joint statement that they had a "detailed and constructive discussion" and there was a "pathway" to a Brexit deal, adding that "a deal is in everyone's interest," the Financial Times reported.
The British pound climbed 0.7% against the US dollar on the news, before settling at 0.6% higher. It sank 0.7% against the euro on Tuesday after multiple British journalists reported Johnson's private call with German counterpart Angela Merkel had not gone well.
"The call with Merkel showed the EU has adopted a new position. She made clear a deal is overwhelmingly unlikely and she thinks the EU has a veto on us leaving the customs union," Sam Coates, deputy political journalist at Sky News, tweeted.
The talks with Varadkar are seen as hugely important in the Brexit process as one of the major sticking points has been whether a deal can be made on the Irish/UK border - the only land border between the EU and the UK.
Watch the pound trade live here.
