Pound Weakens as Manufacturing Data Highlights Growth Slowdown
- Sterling earlier erased year-to-date losses against the dollar
- Options suggest pound may fall more versus most major peers
We Hope Brexit Voters Will be Rational, Says Moretti
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The pound fell as data showed U.K. manufacturing unexpectedly shrank for the first time in three years in April, adding to signs growth is slowing after a report last week showed the economy lost momentum in the first quarter.
Sterling earlier erased its 2016 decline, in an indication that traders saw the likelihood of the U.K. voting to quit the European Union in June receding. The U.K. currency had been down as much as 6.1 percent this year versus the dollar in February, tumbling to the lowest since 2009, amid concern that Britain leaving the world’s largest single market would create political and economic turmoil.