Britain’s currency is taking a pounding.
As the global financial markets Monday tried to find a footing after U.K. voters Thursday — in late results that affected the market Friday — decided to sever decades of ties to the European Union, currency traders continued to dump the pound. Sterling fell to a 31-year low against the dollar, extending losses to nearly 12 percent from levels before the Brexit results were announced.
Assurances from British government officials that the economy is sound as well as central bank pledges to defend the currency did little to stem the slide. British bank stocks were also hammered.
“The U.K. has entered a period of acute and extraordinary uncertainty not seen since the Second World War,” said analysts at IHS Global Insight in a note to clients. “The [country] currently does not have a political leadership or a cohesive government, let alone a plan with which to navigate a way forwards.”
