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Pound hits 31-year low against dollar; three finance firms stop trading
LONDON: Financial markets continued to react to the June 23 Brexit vote on Wednesday with the pound hitting a 31-year low of $1.28 and three major finance companies
LONDON: Financial markets continued to react to the June 23 Brexit vote on Wednesday with the pound hitting a 31-year low of $1.28 and three major finance companies suspending trading over indications that the uncertainty was causing investors to withdraw funds.
The developments came in the back drop of the Bank of England announcing new steps on Tuesday to ease norms for British bank to free £150 billion (₹13.5 lakh crore) of loans.
BoE’s statement that some risks were ‘crystallising’ contributed to sentiment, analysts said.
Elsewhere, property investment fund major M&G Investments joined Aviva and Standard Life in suspending trading after uncertainty caused by the referendum vote led to investors rushing to withdraw funds.
M&G announced “temporary suspension” of trading in its £4.4 billion fund after Aviva and Standard Life halted trading in similar schemes earlier this week.
It said: “Investor redemptions in the fund have risen markedly because of the high levels of uncertainty in the UK commercial property market. Redemptions have now reached a point where M&G believes it can best protect the interests of the funds’ shareholders by seeking a temporary suspension in trading ”.
M&G said its Property Portfolio invests in 178 UK commercial properties across retail, industrial and office sectors on behalf of UK retail investors.
