Speculators bet against sterling
Speculators bet against the pound at record levels despite the gradual lifting of uncertainty as the new coalition government unveiled more of its plans.
Figures from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange showed speculators had extended bets against sterling to 76,745 contracts from 72,188, equivalent to £4.7bn, in the week to May 18 – a week after the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition took power. This was the fourth consecutive week that speculators increased their short positions in sterling, taking the ratio of short to long positions to nine to one.