* Britain clinches Brexit deal, parliament hurdle remains
* Dollar index down 0.6% for the week
(New throughout, updates rates and adds comments post-U.S.
market open; new byline, changes dateline, previous LONDON)
By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
NEW YORK, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar fell against
the euro on Thursday as the common currency got a lift from the
European Union and Britain striking a long-awaited Brexit deal.
Britain clinched an eleventh-hour deal on its exit from the
EU on Thursday, more than three years after Britons voted in a
referendum to leave the bloc, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson
still faces a knife-edge vote in parliament to get it approved.
While uncertainty remains on whether the pact will be
ratified by British lawmakers, news of the agreement was enough
to boost the euro 0.5% against the dollar and 0.66% against the
British pound. EUR= EURGBP=
"The fact that we have a deal means that we are further from
a hard Brexit and all eyes will shift to this weekend's vote,"
Brad Bechtel, global head of FX at Jefferies, said in a note.
The development in the Brexit saga marks a welcome respite
for the euro which has dropped more than 3% this year. Investor
sentiment towards the single currency has been hurt by a broad
economic slowdown in Europe driven by the protracted U.S.-China
trade dispute.
On Thursday, the German government said it lowered its 2020
forecast for economic growth to 1.0% from 1.5% previously, but
added that Europe's largest economy was not facing a crisis.
News of the deal sent sterling surging to a five-month high
and within a whisker of $1.30 before retreating sharply as
traders worried that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson might
fail to get lawmakers to support the Brexit plan, plunging the
country into another round of uncertainty.
Sterling was 0.18% lower at $1.2807.
The dollar has come under pressure this week, shedding about
0.6% against a basket of currencies. .DXY
The greenback, which fell on Wednesday after weak U.S.
retail sales data supported the case for further interest rate
cuts by the Federal Reserve, extended its weakness on Thursday.
Data showed U.S. homebuilding tumbled from a more than a
12-year high in September. Separately, data showed a
deceleration in factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region in
October. The Norwegian crown weakened to an all-time low of 10.1800
against the euro EURNOK=D3 . Some analysts blamed the crown's
recent weakness on global trade jitters, while others said the
speed and magnitude of the drop were hard to explain.
The Australian dollar AUD=D3 held near the day's highs, up
1.04% against the dollar after jobs data showed buoyant hiring,
lowering chances of monetary easing in November.
USD valuations https://tmsnrt.rs/2IRpVqZ
Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
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