The pound rose against the dollar on Thursday and stabilized against the euro after positive press reports on negotiations between London and Brussels and despite the launch of legal proceedings by the EU.

Around 12:35 p.m. GMT (2:35 p.m. in Paris), the pound gained 0.37% against the greenback, to 1.2968 dollars, and stabilized at 90.72 pence for one euro, exactly like Wednesday evening.

After having suffered particularly at the start of the European session, due in particular to the launch of legal proceedings against the British bill concerning Ireland, "the currency underwent a 180-degree turn in the wake of information from the Financial Times that a landing zone has been identified on state aid," one of the main sticking points in the negotiations, said Craig Erlam, analyst for Oanda.

According to him, only fishing rights could remain as a major obstacle to an agreement.

Earlier in the day, however, the pound had received "a new blow", in the words of Sebastien Clements, analyst for OFX, after the President of the European Commission Urusula von der Leyen announced the launch of a procedure judicial action against the British bill concerning Ireland.

“This morning, the Commission decided to send a letter of formal notice to the British government. This is the first step in an infringement procedure,” announced the German leader.

The Europeans had left the United Kingdom until the end of September, that is to say Wednesday, to withdraw their controversial text which goes back in part to the Brexit agreement concluded last year.

Moreover, the euro continued to rise against the greenback, taking 0.38% against the greenback, to 1.1765 dollars.

The day before, "the depreciation of the dollar was reinforced by optimism that a new package of budgetary measures could be accepted soon", explained Derek Halpenny, analyst for MUFG.

After months of standing still, the Democrats presented to Congress at the start of the week a $2.2 trillion aid plan for the American economy hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, deducting more than $1 trillion from a first proposal in the hope of convincing the Republicans.

And US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he hoped to reach "a reasonable compromise".

So far, the Trump administration did not want to spend more than 1,000 billion dollars.

If a new stimulus would be positive for the American economy, and therefore for the dollar, the latter has recently taken advantage of its status as a safe haven and therefore finds itself under pressure when optimism regains ground.