Britain’s Pound Sterling plunges below $1.27 for first time since 1985

Britain’s Pound Sterling dipped below $1.27 for the first time since June 1985 on Wednesday Oct 05,2016, with fears of a ‘hard’ Brexit also pushing the currency to a five-year trough against a broadly stronger euro.

Sterling has been buffeted for a fortnight by worries that Britain will prioritise curbing immigration over promoting trade in its divorce from the bloc, thereby gumming up labour markets, curbing foreign investment and leading to cutbacks by banks and other global companies.

That has been the broad takeaway for markets from this week’s conference of the ruling Conservative Party, and the pound has fallen past long-term lows set in early July in response, although there were signs of stability in morning trade in London.

Sterling hit a 31-year low of $1.2686 after opening before recovering to $1.2720, roughly flat on the day. It fell as much as 0.4 per cent to 88.31 pence per euro before also clawing back some ground against the common currency.