US Dollar (USD)

AFP

The pound is maintaining its lead against the dollar and is trading up 0.60% at $1.3147.

However, sterling's rise might owe more to a weaker dollar amid reports that US President Donald Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods.

Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said: "The ongoing conflict between the US and China continues to be a primary driver of market sentiment, with investors concerned about the prospect of a full blown trade war as neither side shows a willingness to blink."

BBC

Against the euro, however, sterling has had a much more volatile day and is now at €1.1243.

BBC

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The pound is up 0.23% against the dollar at $1.3057.

Sterling was given a boost on Monday after the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said that a deal with the UK is possible in the next six to eight weeks.

The pound edged down against the euro at €1.1224.

Markets Insider

Curious moves from the pound this morning. It fell as low as $1.2897 in early trading, but started recovering from around 08:00.

Strong economic data helped give it another push, at one stage it hit $1.2957.

The pound has been battered around by Brexit concerns, with traders reacting to headlines about talks with Brussels and internal battles within the British government.

From that brief flirtation with $1.30, sterling has given up some gains against the dollar following positive comments from the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

But the pound is still ahead, up 0.43% at $1.2986.

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Sterling is trading up 0.26% against the dollar at $1.2939.

It is also 0.20% ahead of the euro at €1.1119.

The pound was given a lift on Wednesday by reports that Germany - the largest economy in the European Union - and the UK had made progress on a Brexit deal.

Although London and Berlin denied there had been any change, sterling edged higher today.

Valentin Marinov, head of G10 FX strategy at Credit Agricole, tells Reuters: "Brexit negotiations are front and centre for markets, and despite yesterday's headlines the near-term uncertainty is going to persist."

Welcome to Business Live.

Dixons Carphone will give a trading update this morning - its first since admitting a massive data breach involving 5.9 million payment cards in June.

Among the other companies publishing their latest figures, transport group Go-Ahead will reveal its full-year results.

We will also be keeping an eye on the pound which rose against the dollar on a Bloomberg News report that Germany and the UK have made progress towards a Brexit deal.

As always, we'd love to hear from you. Email Business Live at bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk

The US dollar has slid in response to Jerome Powell's comments.

The greenback, which was already trading lower on the day, dropped further. Shortly after Mr Powell's comments were released, the dollar index - which measures its value against a basket of major currencies - was down 0.6%.

The pound was trading at $1.2866, up 0.4% against the dollar today