Pound sterling continues downward slide amid Brexit jitters | City A.M.

Sterling has continued its downward slide against the dollar this week, amid growing fears of Brexit talks resulting in a no deal scenario.

The pound was down 0.23 per cent against the greenback to $1.2853 in early trading, while it is flat against the euro at €1.1096.

Yesterday it slipped below $1.29 for the first time in almost a year amid market jitters.

The decline began on Friday after Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned the chances of a no deal were “uncomfortably high”.

That continued on Monday when markets reopened after international trade secretary Liam Fox put the chances of the UK crashing out without a deal in place at 60-40.

This morning a Reuters poll suggested economists were even less pessimistic, giving a median 25 per cent chance that no agreement would be reached.

That was, however, higher than the 20 percent in a July poll. In total, 12 respondents improved their forecast, while two cut them and 13 left them unchanged.

“Given the talk over recent weeks the perception of no deal has increased. Fundamentally our base case is still that some kind of deal is struck. A deal is more likely than no deal,” said James Smith at ING.