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.

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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 ”.