Sterling weighed down by fear of EU no-deal

STERLING remained under pressure on the foreign exchanges yesterday, as it continued to be haunted by fears of a no-deal Brexit.

The pound fell to a two-month low against the US dollar during the session, falling as far as $1.2775. While sterling managed to recover most of its losses later in the session and was trading around $1.2824 at 5pm in London, only marginally below its Thursday close, it was down more than two cents on the week.

David Madden, analyst at CMC Markets UK, said yesterday: “Brexit uncertainty continues to hang over the pound.”

Sterling was weighed down yesterday by a Bloomberg report that Prime Minister Theresa May’s Cabinet was not close enough to agreeing on a way forward for top-level Brexit negotiations to resume.

The euro strengthened slightly against the pound

The pound fell to a two-month low against the US greenback yesterday

yesterday. It was trading at 88.81p at 5pm in London, up from 88.69p at the previous close and 0.6p higher on the week.

Mrs May told MPS this week that 95% of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and its protocols had now been “settled”. But she also declared that the Irish border was still a “considerable sticking point”.

EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said in March: “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”

A Confederation of British Industry survey this week revealed Scottish manufacturers had seen domestic and export orders fall in the latest three months.

CBI Scotland director Tracy Black said: “It’s clear that continued uncertainty over Brexit is unsettling Scottish manufacturers.”

She flagged an “alarming number of firms citing concerns over political and economic conditions abroad”.