17.12.200807:25:00UTC+00Pound falls sharply against majors

The British pound extended its recent downtrend against other major currencies on Wednesday in early trading. The sterling slipped to a new record low of 0.9206 against the euro, new multi-year low of 1.7017 against the Swiss franc and a 5-day low of 135.28 against the Japanese yen by 7:10 am ET. The pound also retreated from early Asian session's new multi-week high against the dollar and drifted lower to 1.5286 by this time. Currently, the pound is trading at 0.92 against the euro, 135.99 against the yen, 1.7059 versus the Swiss franc and 1.5308 against the greenback.

In economic news, UK's number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance benefit in November increased 75,700 to 1.07 million, the Office for National Statistics said today. That was the biggest jump since 1991. Meanwhile, economists had expected an increase of 45,000. The claimant count rate logged 3.3%.

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