Pound Trades Higher As May Attains Changes To Brexit Deal Ahead Of Crucial Vote

The pound strengthened against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Tuesday, as the U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May secured significant changes to her divorce deal from the European Union, ahead of a vote on the deal by British lawmakers today.

May claimed that the new documents to be added to the deal provided "legally binding changes" that would ease concerns over the backstop.

The PM said the new wording "will guarantee that the EU cannot act with the intent of applying the backstop indefinitely."

The PM's Deputy David Lidington warned that Britian would be plunged into political crisis, if the Brexit deal is rejected for a second time by MPs.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of European Commission, told that if the deal was rejected there would be "no third chance".

Asian stock markets were higher following the overnight gains on Wall Street after a report from the Commerce Department showed an unexpected uptick in U.S. retail sales in January.

The pound firmed to near a 2-week high of 1.3288 against the greenback and a weekly high of 147.79 against the yen, from yesterday's closing values of 1.3147 and 146.22, respectively and held steady thereafter. The next possible resistance for the pound is seen around 1.34 against the greenback and 149.00 against the yen.

The U.K. currency that closed Monday's trading at 1.3290 against the franc and 0.8548 against the euro strengthened to near 10-month highs of 1.3423 and 0.8475, respectively and held steady thereafter. The pound is poised to find resistance around 1.36 against the franc and 0.83 against the euro.

Looking ahead, U.K. trade data, industrial production, construction output and GDP data, all for January, are due in the European session.

In the New York session, U.S. CPI for February is scheduled for release.

At 9:45 am ET, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard will give a speech on "Community Reinvestment Act Modernization" at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition's Just Economy Conference in Washington DC.