Early trade in New York: Euro gains against yen, Swiss franc

NEW YORK: The euro gained against the safe-haven Japanese yen and Swiss franc on Monday as risk sentiment was boosted by Britain reaching a trade deal with the European Union.

Britain clinched a narrow Brexit trade deal with the European Union on Thursday, just seven days before it exits one of the world's biggest trading blocs in its most significant global shift since the loss of empire.

"What we are seeing is a continuation of the pricing out of hard Brexit risk," said Ulrich Leuchtmann, head of FX research at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

The euro gained 0.36% to 126.69 yen. It earlier reached a seven-month high of 1.0892 against the Swiss franc, before falling back to be last at 1.0862, up 0.07% on the day.

The single currency was up 0.05% against the US dollar at $1.2226.

It gained 0.63% against sterling to 0.9044.

The British pound dipped 0.15% against the US dollar to $1.3517, and was holding below a two-and-a-half-year high of $1.3625 reached on Dec. 17.

Bitcoin climbed 3.88% to $27,274 but was below a record high $28,378 reached on Sunday.

The dollar slipped 0.04% against a basket of currencies to 90.15.

The dollar slipped 0.30% against the Canadian dollar to $1.2829.