Source: EU’s Barnier pledges to prioritize UK trade deal post-Brexit - FT

The Financial Times (FT) quotes people briefed on the closed-door meeting with MEPs in Strasbourg on Tuesday, the European Union (EU) Chief Brexit Negotiator Barnier said, “the 11 months from Britain's planned EU exit on January 31 until the end of its transition period would normally be far too short to negotiate a trade agreement, but that Brussels would strive to have a deal in place for the end of 2020”.

The somewhat encouraging headlines from Brussels is overshadowed by the tightening UK election race, in the wake of the recent opiniion polls, keeping the weight intact on the pound. The GBP/USD pair keeps the red near daily lows of 1.2848, at the time of writing.

• UK election: Conservative’s lead over Labour narrows one point to 11 points - YouGov poll