The British Pound slipped against the US dollar, today, its first drop in the last four days, to pull back from 5-month peek, on increased profit-taking, but still poised to extend its weekly gains for the third straight week, after the British PM Boris Johnson agreed with the European Commission yesterday on a draft Brexit deal to prevent a chaotic departure in case of a no-deal Brexit on October 31. 

GBP/USD fell by 0.4% to $1.2839, from the opening of $1.2890, with an intraday high of $1.2891.

Sterling gained 0.5% against the US dollar yesterday, its third straight daily gain and hit a 5-month high of $1.2990, amid positive Brexit news.

During this week, the pound gained 1.5% against the US dollar so far, to head for its third straight weekly gain in the longest weekly gains streak in 2019.

The European Union leaders agreed with the UK on a Brexit deal during the EU economic summit in Brussels yesterday, which provides the UK with the chance of leaving in orderly fashion on October 31.

This week saw intensive Brexit talks, which resulted in the European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, announcement of a draft Brexit deal, and was later passed by all European Union leaders.

British PM Boris Johnson described the deal as a great chance that reflects the hard work that has been done from both sides, and urged the British lawmakers to support the deal in its vote next Saturday in order to move on other priorities such as the environment, protecting society from violent crimes and improving the standards of living.

Johnson will put the deal before the British parliament for a vote on Saturday, in its final phase ahead of entering into force if the British lawmakers approve it.

The Prime Minisiter described the deal as the UK's best option with the European Union, and asked the EU not to extend the Brexit deadline if the deal was rejected, and implement it as scheduled, which means a chaotic no-deal exit scenario still persists.

European stocks fell in the opening sessions on Friday, to deepen losses for the third straight day, on profit taking amid broad doubts about the odds of the British parliament to pass Johnson's draft Brexit deal with the EU in coming vote on Saturday.

Stoxx Europe 600 fell by 0.2% as of 08:24 GMT, after it extended its losses for the second straight day and closed lower by 0.1% yesterday, on profit taking from the highest level since July.

The index opened today's session lower, to deepen its losses for the third straight day, on profit taking with most of the major European exchanges and sectors dropping.

The auto industry sector saw the sharpest losses in Europe today, with a drop of more than 1.4%, as the French car giant Renault shares slumped after it issued a profit warning.

The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed with the European Commission yesterday on a draft deal for the UK departure from the EU, and the draft deal was also approved by all the EU leaders during their economic summit in Brussels. 

But PM Johnson now still needs to persuade the British Parliament to pass the deal in its vote on Saturday, to ensure an exit from in orderly fashion from the European Union on October 31.

S&P 500 futures fell by 0.2%, while it closed higher by 0.3% yesterday at Wall Street, buyod by robust earnings reports issued by several major US companies.

To European stock markets, the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell by 0.2%, as in France the CAC 40 fell by 0.4%, and Germany's DAX shed 0.1%, while in London the FTSE 100 dropped more than 0.5%. 

Asian stocks opened with a mixed performance but mostly higher on Friday, as the Japanese, the Chinese stocks and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index in addition to the South Korean Kospi index rose, while the Australian, New Zealand stocks fell after the release of several economic data updates and developments by major Asian economies.

The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed today that the GDP growth slowed to 1.5% in the third quarter as expected vs.1.6% in the second quarter, while growth slowed to 6.0% from a year earlier vs. 6.2% in the previous annual reading for the second quarter and lower than forecasts of 6.1%.

While the retail sales reading showed that growth accelerated as expected to 7.8% on annual basis vs. 7.5% in the previous reading, the annual reading of industrial production showed growth to 6.3% vs. 4.4%, surpassing forecasts of 5%, and the unemployment steadied at 5.2% in September.

Otherwise, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the trade agreement with China is ready and they're currently preparing the trade deal text, and noted that it will not be signed until he meets his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next month in Chile, added that China has began purchasing US agricultural products.

The US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also stated that US and Chinese trade negotiators are preparing the text for the first phase of the trade deal to be signed by their presidents next month at Chile, and added that there are no plans for another high-level meeting.

Meanwhile the European Union summit in Brussels is entering its second day, after agreeing with the UK on a draft Brexit deal yesterday, and will be put before the British parliament for a vote on Saturday, the markets are also anticipating the launch of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings with officials from the World Bank in Washington.

The Japanese stocks saw a surge today, as Topix rose by 0.21% or 3.39 points to 1,627.55 points, and Nikkei 225 jumped 0.57% or 127.61 points to 22,579.47.

The Chinese stocks also rose during sessions, as the CSI 300 index gained 0.15% or 5.92 points to 3,931.14, and the Shanghai Composite index rose by 0.15% or 4.39 points to 2,981.73.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.31% or 82.20 points to 26,930.69, and the South Korean Kospi rose by 0.1% or 3.44 points to 2,081.38.

To New Zealand's NZX 50, which fell by 0.38% or 42.49 points to 11,099.37, and the Australian S&P/ASX 200 fell by 0.58% or 38.88 points to 6,645.80.

US stocks soared today, as investors grew more optimistic after the announcement of a draft deal for the UK departure from the European Union, in addition to robust quarterly business reports.

The online streaming giant "Netflix" revealed its quarterly business report, which showed strong revenues and subscribers growth, while IBM scored a lower-than-expected revenues during the third quarter.

The United Kingdom and the European Union agreed on a draft deal for an exit in orderly fashion, and will be put before the British parliament for a vote on Saturday .

British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson expressed that he's confident that that Brexit deadline will not be extended further if the deal was rejected, which raised concerns over a no-deal Brexit scenario.

The US economy showed today that the industrial production fell by 0.4% in September, and the jobless claims increased by 4,000 to 214,000 last week, while the building permits rose higher than forecasts to 1.39 million.

In the oil market, WTI rose by 1.1% and closed at $53.93 a barrel, with a session-high of $54.1 and a low of $52.6.

Brent rose by 0.8% to close at $59.91 a barrel, with a high of $60.04 and a low of $58.6.

To the stock market, Dow Jones gained 0.1% or 24 points, and settled at 27,026 points, with an intraday high of 27,112 and a low of 26,970.

Nasdaq also advanced by 0.3% or 32 points to 8,156, with a high of 8,183 and a low of 8,131.

S&P 500 rose by 0.2% or 8 points to and closed at 2,998, with a high of 3,008 and a low of 2,991.