Brexit jitters drag pound to 11-month low

The pound slumped to an 11-month low as the prospect of a “no-deal” Brexit preoccupied currency traders following comments made by international trade secretary Liam Fox.

Sterling slid 0.5 per cent to trade at 1.294 versus the US dollar and lost 0.4 per cent to trade at 1.119 against the euro.

“At the weekend, Liam Fox revealed the possibility of the UK leaving the EU without a trade deal is 60-40. Mr Fox might have been taking a tough line in a bid to gain leverage over the EU negotiators, but traders aren’t taking any chances and have been selling sterling.

“The pound has been losing ground against the US dollar since April, and if the negative move continues it could target $1.290,” said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

The FTSE 100 eked out a small rise, ending the day up 0.06 per cent at 7,663.78.

In stocks, HSBC shares dipped 1 per cent to 708.6p despite the bank reporting pre-tax profit of £8.2 billion for the half-year ended 30 June, up from £7.9bn for the same period in 2017.

On the FTSE 250, Spire Healthcare shed 21.8 per cent of its share price to close at 193.4p after the private hospitals operator issued a profit warning over its full-year performance in the face of falling NHS spending.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included Hargreaves Lansdown up 2 per cent at 2,118p, BT Group up 1.8 per cent at 238.5p, and GlaxoSmithkline up 1.6 per cent at 1,578.4p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 included Fresnillo down 3.3 per cent at 980.6p, Micro Focus down 3.1 per cent at 1,190.5p, and RBS down 2.3 per cent at 252p.