Pound loses ground on deadlocked Brexit talks

Sterling lost ground against the dollar on Friday after the EU blamed the UK for deadlocked Brexit talks and said a deal was unlikely.

At 1215 BST, the pound was down 0.5% versus the greenback at 1.3149 after the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said a post-Brexit trade deal, while still possible, "seems unlikely" and that he was "concerned" after the latest round of negotiations.

Meanwhile, UK Brexit negotiator David Frost said the talks were useful but "little progress" had been made.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "The two sides are still too far apart. Specifically, the EU wants to agree on fisheries and state aid rules before making progress on anything else. EU demands for a level playing field are non-negotiable if there is to be more than a low-level agreement.

"The next round of talks take place the week commencing September 7th. Whilst the market was not positioned for a breakthrough this week, it’s getting closer and closer to the crunch point - the longer we go without a deal the more pressure comes onto the pound."