Sterling drops as new UK lockdown measures outweigh Brexit deal relief
The pound weakened against the dollar and euro on Britain’s first day of trading outside the European Union on Monday, as warnings of tighter UK lockdown measures outweighed the relief over the last-minute Brexit trade deal.
Sterling initially strengthened against the dollar, even briefly breaking above $1.37 for the first time since 2018 in early London trading, but the move was more driven by dollar weakness than idiosyncratic sterling strength, with analysts still citing COVID-19 and uncertainty over the future relationship between Britain and the EU as downside risks.
At 1551 GMT on Monday, the pound was down 0.7% at $1.3573 versus the dollar, which was flat.