Pound crashes in Asia trade

Speculation over cause

clock • 1 min read

The pound hit a new 31-year low against the US dollar in Asian trade, leaving traders to speculate about a possible trigger.

The UK currency fell more than 6% at one point to $1.1841 before recovering to $1.23, which meant it was still down 1.5% from late US levels, the BBC reports. Analysts believed an algorithm reacting to a news report was the possible trigger for the sudden fall. The pound was put under renewed pressure after Prime Minister Theresa May put a timetable on Brexit at the Conservative party conference, saying talks would start next March. A market analyst told the BBC it was "difficult to know exactly" what triggered the tumble. It came after the Financial Times newspaper published a ...

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