LONDON: The British pound fell half a percent on Friday after parliament voted down Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit withdrawal agreement.
Sterling, flat on the day before the result of May’s defeat came in, slid to as low as $1.2977, the lowest since March 11. Against the euro, it dropped 0.3 percent to 86.475 pence, a one-week low.
Core euro zone bond yields also fell after the vote, with Germany’s 10-year government bond, the benchmark for the region, turning flat on the day at minus 0.07 pct, down two basis points from where it stood just before the vote.
House builders, which are particularly sensitive to concerns about damage to the economy from a no-deal Brexit, hit session lows following the vote. Taylor Wimpey was down 1.4 percent and Berkeley Group was down 1.1 percent.
Dublin’s stock market, often seen as a barometer of Brexit uncertainty, moved off session highs on the news. It was up 1.2 percent.
