A broadly stronger sterling posted a fifth consecutive week of gains against the euro on Friday, its best run in nine months, as investors’ fears over a “hard Brexit” that would see Britain lose access to the European Union’s single market eased.
The pound jumped to a three-month high against the single currency and a two-month high against the dollar on Thursday, staying close to those levels on Friday, after Britain’s Brexit minister said the government would consider paying into the EU budget in order to keep market access.
And investor jitters were soothed further in the early hours of Friday, when a pro-EU Liberal Democrat candidate won a parliamentary seat previously held by the ruling Conservative Party on Friday, in a vote considered a protest against a “hard Brexit”.
“That (by-election) has its own idiosyncrasies, so it’s important not to overinterpret things,” said UBS Wealth Management currency strategist Geoffrey Yu. 
“But that plus the comments we’ve had this week probably has helped to shift the narrative somewhat.”

Source: Arab News