The Telegraph is reporting that British and EU negotiators have reached a deal over the so-called ‘Brexit bill’, opening the door to a potential breakthrough in the talks this December. According to the report, that the final figure, which is deliberately being left open to interpretation, “will be between €45bn and €55bn, depending on how each side calculates the output from an agreed methodology.

Telegraph quotes sources on both sides who have confirmed that “an agreement-in-principle has now been reached” over the EU’s demand for a €60bn financial settlement ahead of a crucial lunch meeting next Monday between Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president.As a result of the breakthrough on money, only two major obstacles are left open to overcome in order to make progress when the European Council meets on December 14-15. These are defining the role of the European Court of Justice in governing the agreement on the rights of 3.2m EU expats in the UK after Brexit, and the continued row between London and Dublin over avoiding a return of a hard border in Northern Ireland.

And while Cable has surged on the news…

…. what is far more interesting is that it took FX algos nearly 10 minutes after the Telegraph report was published and distributed before they reacted.

#BREAKING: Britain and the EU agree Brexit divorce bill https://t.co/hx3XSPPNST pic.twitter.com/oRa9tlbr9o

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) November 28, 2017

It appears that all FX “trades” now desperately need a Bloomberg headline to scan, such as this one…

  • UK, EU SAID TO REACH AGREEMENT ON BREXIT DIVORCE BILL:TELEGRAPH
  • … in order to make the decision to buy.

    If anything, today’s Brexit “breakthrough” more than anything demonstrates again just how devoid of human traders the market has become, and how reliant on central news platforms such as Bloomberg, the algos have become.

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