- Pound Drops to Two-Month Low Before Queen’s Speech
The pound fell below $1.26 for the first time in two months before beleaguered Prime Minister Theresa May lays out her legislative program in Parliament following an inconclusive election that has left the longevity of her premiership in doubt.
Sterling reached the lowest level versus the dollar since the day the election was called in April, while government bonds rose, before Queen Elizabeth II reads out the plans to lawmakers at 11:30 a.m. in London. The program is set to be heavy on Brexit and likely to be light on anything controversial, with May’s first test being to simply win votes on the contents of the speech itself.
Having unexpectedly lost her parliamentary majority in the June 8 election, May remains in negotiations for the support of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party to bolster her government. That’s spurring uncertainty for pound traders at a time when officials are starting to negotiate Britain’s exit from the European Union and amid signs of a growing split among Bank of England policy makers.
