Pound pauses after UK vote on delay; yen ticks up on BOJ, North Korea

TOKYO - The British pound paused for breath on Friday but stayed on course for its biggest weekly gain in seven weeks after the UK parliament voted to seek a delay in Britain’s exit from the European Union, following a decision to avert a no-deal Brexit.

Sterling last traded at $1.3252, having slipped further from Wednesday’s nine-month high of $1.3380, with its fall of 0.76 percent on Thursday. British lawmakers approved a motion setting out the option to ask the EU for a short delay if parliament can agree on a Brexit deal by March 20, or a longer delay if no deal can be agreed in time.“There has been a soft consensus in the market that the Brexit will be delayed. Things have been moving in line with that,” said Kyosuke Suzuki, director of forex at Societe Generale.

Lawmakers must now decide whether to back a deal they feel does not offer a clean break from the EU, or reject it and accept that Brexit could be watered down or even thwarted by a long delay. “It would be wise for the BOJ to keep markets believing that way. There is no reason to crush such expectations. Kuroda could express his willingness to ease if needed,” said Shinji Ishimaru, senior analyst at MUFG Bank.

The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week while new home sales fell more than expected in January.It was knocked off this week’s high of $0.7098 on Thursday by reports that a possible summit meeting the United States and China to hammer out a trade deal will be delayed.

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