The British pound today crashed to a 31-year low suffering a fall of over 6 per cent against the US dollar early on Friday amid fears over the UK’s exit from the European Union.
The currency fell to $1.1819 in early Asian hours, hitting its lowest level since 1985—a year when it hit $1.0520 amid an acrimonious mining industry strike. Over the next 10 minutes, the pound regained much of the loss to be trading down a little over 1 per cent lower in early Asian trade.
It was the currency’s lowest level since May 1985 and the biggest intraday drop against the dollar since its 11.1 per cent plunge on June 24 in the wake of the UK’s vote to leave the EU.
Investors have been selling the currency since a speech on Sunday by Prime Minister Theresa May, who said her government plans to start the process of leaving the European Union by the end of March 2017.
French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday the European Union needed to remain firm with Britain after it appeared Prime Minister Theresa May had opted for a tougher exit from Europe.
Global markets have been on edge in recent days on worries about a “hard” exit by Britain from the EU and about May’s comments on the impact of loose monetary policy, which some saw as a thinly veiled attack on the Bank of England.
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