The British pound is climbing on Monday.
The currency is up by 0.5% at 1.2229 against the US dollar as of 8:07 a.m. ET.
As for what's happening on the ground, Britain is poised to begin its departure from the European Union as early as Tuesday after both Houses of Parliament look set to pass the Brexit bill.
The bill is likely to pass without any amendments, meaning that Prime Minister Theresa May's plan to pursue a "hard Brexit" outside of the Single Market and the Customs Union, will proceed.
Moreover, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has announced on Monday that she intends to trigger another referendum on Scottish independence amid Brexit.
As for the rest of the world, here's the scoreboard as of 7:58 a.m. ET:
- The euro is little changed at 1.0668 against the dollar. Later in the day, ECB head Mario Draghi will be speaking in Frankfurt, Germany at 9:30 a.m. ET on "Fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the euro area."
- The Japanese yen is little changed at 114.66 per dollar. Earlier, core machinery orders missed big in Japan. Data released by the Cabinet Office on Monday showed orders fell 3.2% month-over-month in January, missing the 0.1% dip that economists were anticipating.
- The Russian ruble is little changed at 58.9848 per dollar, while Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, is little changed $51.30 per barrel. Relatedly, WTI crude oil touched $48.11 earlier on Monday — its lowest level since November 30, or the day OPEC announced it was cutting production.
- The US dollar index is little changed at 101.29.
