Pound heads for new 31 year low
Financial and commodity markets analytics
The pound has fallen sharply in today’s trading as the British Prime Minister Theresa May set a concrete date for Britain to exit from the EU.
At 5.48pm (GMT) the British currency was trading at US$1.2841 down from US$1.2975 at close of trade on Friday.
The British PM told a conference over the weekend that the date to trigger article 50 for the UK to leave the EU would happen no later than the end of March.
That means that Britain would cease to be a member in 2019 with many predicting a lot of tough negotiations ahead.
The news sent the pound tumbling towards a new 31 year low against its US counterpart as the announcement set in.
“The decline in sterling is another reminder that the market doesn’t like the uncertainty that Brexit is bringing, that the negotiations will be hard and that the probability of a hard Brexit has increased,” said Charles St Arnaud, Nomura FX strategist.
He also noted that although a date had been set, businesses are still being left in the dark with all the question marks of just what Brexit means to them.
While Mrs May’s Article 50 comments provided some clarity on the timing of negotiations, there was little on their outcome, “which is what matters for most businesses”, Mr St Arnaud added.
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