The British pound jumped sharply Wednesday after the European Union's top Brexit negotiator said the bloc was willing to offer the U.K. an unprecedented partnership. "We are prepared to offer a partnership with Britain such as has never been with any other third country," Michel Barnier said, according to Reuters, but added that the EU would not agree to anything that weakened the single market. The pound GBPUSD, +1.0022% last traded at $1.2970 versus the dollar, a gain of 0.8% from its level of $1.2872 late Monday in New York. The pound remains down 1.1% versus the dollar so far this month and has declined 3.9% in the year to date. The FTSE 100 stock index UKX, -0.77% was off 0.8% at 7,554.66, hitting a session low as the currency jumped. A stronger pound can be a headwind for export-oriented U.K. companies, making their products more expensive to foreign buyers.
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