Pound plunges on political uncertainty in Britain
Saturday, 8 May 2010
LONDON, May 7 (AFP): The British pound plunged to its lowest level against the dollar in more than a year today amid uncertainty over Britain's new government following a close- fought general election.
The pound hit 1.4597 dollars at 0530 GMT -- its lowest level since April 2009 -- as it appeared increasingly certain that the opposition Conservatives had failed to win an absolute majority in parliament despite being on course to take the most seats.
Sterling later recovered, standing at 1.4709 dollars at about 0630 GMT.
"This messy (political) state of affairs is proving unsettling for the markets, with sterling sinking to a one-year low against the dollar and even losing ground against the euro which has been torpedoed by the eurozone debt crisis," said IHS Global Insight analyst Howard Archer.
"The FTSE also seems set to open much lower, although this will be partly due to the sharp fall in the Dow yesterday and weakness in Asian equity markets" linked to the Greek debt crisis, he added.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index opens at 0700 GMT alongside Europe's other main indices.
The pound hit 1.4597 dollars at 0530 GMT -- its lowest level since April 2009 -- as it appeared increasingly certain that the opposition Conservatives had failed to win an absolute majority in parliament despite being on course to take the most seats.
Sterling later recovered, standing at 1.4709 dollars at about 0630 GMT.
"This messy (political) state of affairs is proving unsettling for the markets, with sterling sinking to a one-year low against the dollar and even losing ground against the euro which has been torpedoed by the eurozone debt crisis," said IHS Global Insight analyst Howard Archer.
"The FTSE also seems set to open much lower, although this will be partly due to the sharp fall in the Dow yesterday and weakness in Asian equity markets" linked to the Greek debt crisis, he added.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index opens at 0700 GMT alongside Europe's other main indices.