Investing.com - Sterling tumbled on Friday after Ireland warned that a deal is not nearly as close as some might believe.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said there was still “a wide gap” between the U.K. and EU reaching any type of Brexit deal.
The pound stumbled 0.4% to 1.2476 as of 10:27 AM ET (14:27 GMT), while EUR/USD slipped 0.3% to 1.1009. Sterling had neared its longest run of weekly increases since January on earlier reports from Sky News that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker thinks a deal can be reached by the Oct. 31 deadline.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar rose after Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida told CNBC that all voting members of the central bank believe the U.S. economy is in a good place. He also noted the issues in the repo market were not a reason for concern, as it was due to larger-than-expected quarterly tax payments and Treasury bond sales.
The New York Federal Reserve jumped into the overnight markets for four consecutive days this week, injecting money in an attempt to keep interest rates from rising.
"I have a lot of confidence that the U.S. consumer will remain strong," Clarida said.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, jumped 0.4% to 98.197.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD rose 0.3% to 1.3291. The Japanese yen, which is seen as a safe-haven in times of market turmoil, was flat at 107.99.