Germany's Merkel: Progress made in Brexit talks but no breakthrough yet

German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated that Germany remains on the view that a Brexit deal would be better than a no-deal and added that they are prepared either way, per Reuters.

Merkel further added that some progress was made in the latest round of Brexit negotiations but noted that they haven't been able to make a breakthrough yet. 

EU-UK trade talks are expected to continue until the end of this week.

Market reaction

The British pound doesn't seem to be showing a significant reaction to these remarks. As of writing, the GBP/USD pair was up 0.4% on the day at 1.3514.