British pound briefly pops momentarily as U.K.'s May offers option of second Brexit referendum

The British pound on Tuesday momentarily strengthened against its main currency rivals, notably the euro and the U.S. dollar, as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May made a final bid to pro-European Union members of parliament to support her deal to exit from Europe's trade bloc, which included the chance of a second referendum. May's Brexit deal has already been rejected three times by U.K. lawmakers, with the premier's latest effort being widely viewed as a last-ditch effort to get her Brexit deal passed, with the promise of a second referendum on Brexit, holding the potential to sway those lawmakers committed to remaining an EU member. May's comments, made at the end of a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, initially, took the British pound sharply higher against the the U.S. dollar and the euro , with a dollar buying $1.2754, up 0.2%, but it had been up $1.2813 at Tuesday's peak. The shared currency, meanwhile, was buying £0.8754, down 0.2%, but it had been as low as £0.8725, according to FactSet data.

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