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* Sterling pares gains as Brexit deal nagged by doubts
* Lack of support from Northern Irish partners a snag
* Dollar weak as U.S. retail sales fall for first time in 7
months
By Marc Jones and Herbert Lash
LONDON/NEW YORK, Oct 17 (Reuters) - A deal on Britain's
departure agreed with the European Union sent sterling to a
five-month high on Thursday and hoisted European stocks to a
year-and-a-half peak before doubts about UK parliamentary
support hauled them back.
Wall Street rose as upbeat earnings from Netflix and Morgan
Stanley affirmed a strong start to the U.S. reporting season
while the dollar fell against the euro as the common currency
got a lift on the long-awaited Brexit deal.
While the British government and the EU may have reached a
deal, the road ahead is unclear. The Irish border riddle remains
a sticking point for Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist
Party (DUP), which has withheld its backing. That reduces the chances of British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson winning parliamentary ratification at an extraordinary
session of parliament on Saturday.
But after weeks of negotiations, an agreement being struck
was welcomed by British and EU leaders. "Where there is a will, there is a deal - we have one!" said
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker as the news
broke from Brussels.
Sterling, the key gauge of Brexit sentiment all along,
jumped as much as a 1% against the dollar, putting it on course
for its best six-day gain in more than 30 years before the
doubts and grumbles set in. /FRX Market optimism faltered when the Northern Ireland party
said it could not support the agreement, torpedoing hopes of a
smooth passage through parliament.
Having ran up as far as $1.2988 GBP= , sterling fell well
under $1.28 before regaining momentum to trade at $1.2857, up
0.21% on the day.
London's benchmark FTSE .FTSE index jumped 0.61% as the
pound slid but the broad-market pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX
lost most of its gains, rising 0.17%. The FTSEurofirst index
.FTEU3 of leading regional shares rose 0.17%.
UK Gilts GB10YT=RR , German Bunds DE10YT=RR , gold and
most other safe havens also rebounded after selling off. .EU
Netflix Inc NFLX.O shares rose 2.3% in heavy trade after
the video streaming service provider added slightly more paying
subscribers than Wall Street expected in the third quarter.
Morgan Stanley MS.N gained 3.1% after the big lender beat
analysts' expectations for quarterly profit, buoyed by higher
revenue from bond trading and M&A advisory fees.
Earnings season is dictating U.S. market moves, which has
historically been the case, said Kristina Hooper, chief global
market strategist at Invesco.
"The buck stops with earnings," Hooper said. "The good news
is most earnings reports thus far have been positive and that's
provided some nice momentum for the market."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 48 points, or
0.18%, to 27,049.98. The S&P 500 .SPX gained 10.07 points, or
0.34%, to 2,999.76 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 21.56
points, or 0.27%, to 8,145.74.
Emerging-market stocks .MSCIEF also gained for a sixth day
- their longest winning streak since early April - after U.S.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said U.S. and Chinese trade
negotiators were nailing down a Phase 1 trade deal text for
their presidents to sign next month.
But U.S. retail sales fell for the first time in seven
months, suggesting manufacturing-led weakness was spreading to
the broader economy. U.S. consumption has been one of few bright
spots in the global economy, so the data fanned concerns the
trade war would ultimately tip the world into recession.
The dollar index .DXY fell 0.37%, with the euro EUR= up
0.43% to $1.1118. The Japanese yen JPY= strengthened 0.20%
versus the greenback at 108.58 per dollar.
Oil prices fell as industry data showed a
larger-than-expected increase in U.S. inventories, though the
drop was limited by the Brexit deal.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures fell 25 cents to $59.17 a
barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 lost 24 cents
to trade at $53.12.
Turkey's lira worst performing currency over the last month https://tmsnrt.rs/2OLepRJ
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