Pound Volatility Is Highest Since Debt Crisis as Talks Drag On
- EU leaders meet in Brussels to discuss U.K.'s membership terms
- Sterling weaker against most G-10 peers since start of year
British five, 10 and 20 pound banknotes stand in this arranged photograph in London, U.K., on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. The pound has been falling versus the dollar since the middle of 2015 and accelerated its slide this year, reaching an almost seven-year low of $1.4080 on Jan. 21.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergPound traders’ expectations for price swings against the euro are at the highest since the currency bloc’s debt crisis in 2011 as U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron seeks to renegotiate Britain’s membership of the European Union.
The measure of anticipated volatility in the next six months climbed for a fourth session Friday as negotiations spilled over into a second day in Brussels. If successful, they may kick start a four-month referendum campaign on the U.K.’s place in the EU. Sterling weakened as Cameron seeks concessions to address British concerns about its relationship with the bloc, so he can call his promised referendum for June 23. That would give those in favor of an unprecedented British exit from the EU the shortest possible time to campaign.