Mubasher: The UK pound (GBP) on Thursday retreated against the US dollar, below the highs earlier, after UK officials denied reports of a deal on the financial services between London and Brussels.

The GBP/USD pair traded around GBP 1.2870, after hitting a high of GBP 1.2920 seen earlier in the day.

The Times reported that the UK government struck a deal with the European Union (EU) on access to the financial system, as long as UK regulations remained converged broadly with the bloc’s rules after the Brexit.

However, UK officials said that the reported breakthrough on financial services was “unsubstantiated,” confounding hopes for a comprehensive divorce deal.

Later in the day, the Bank of England (BOE) would announce its decision on the key interest rate as well as its projections for inflation and economic growth for the next two years.

By 10:41 am GMT, the GBP/USD pair rose 0.85% to $1.2875, while the EUR/GBP pair fell 0.31% to GBP 0.8834.