"Our negotiating teams have been working day and night in recent days. And despite exhaustion after almost a year of negotiations, even though deadlines have not been met, we think it is responsible to move another mile at this point," announced U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in their statement.

On the other side, they both agreed over the weekend to go the “extra mile,” which means that they will ignore a self-imposed Sunday deadline and give more time to negotiators to close a trade deal. Economists expect that stake is around $1 trillion in annual trade at risk of facing tariffs and quotas if a deal cannot be reached before transition arrangements end on Dec. 31.

The British pound began to strengthen significantly in the evening, according to analysts, in relief that talks will continue. It added 1.33 per cent to $1.34 against the dollar against Friday's close.

Performance of GBP/USD (Source: Tradingview.com)