“Flash Crash” Decimates Sterling

Sterling lost a tenth of its value in minutes on Friday, in what traders said was a “flash crash” driven by computer-initiated sell orders that left the pound at a fresh 31-year-low and heading for its worst week since January 2009.

The pound has been under pressure for most of this week as anxiety grows that Britain will opt for a “hard” exit from the European Union. On Friday, it dived about 10 percent from levels around $1.2600 to $1.1378 in a matter of minutes in thin early Asian trade.

That low was later revised to $1.1491 — still the weakest level for sterling since 1985 — by Thomson Reuters, which owns the Reuters foreign exchange brokerage platform RTSL and said an outlying trade had been cancelled.

Reuters

USD/CAD – Loonie Recovers as Canadian Job Numbers Sparkle, US Payrolls Comes Up Short

USD/JPY – Yen in Holding Pattern Ahead of US Nonfarm Payrolls

Jobs Report Eyed After Sterling Flash Crash

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.