Sterling down almost 12 per cent to 30-year low on Brexit; yuan trades at five-year low

Pound sterling fell by 11.47 per cent in Friday morning trade to its lowest level in 30 years after Britain voted in a referendum to leave the European Union, while analysts believe the currency has little hope of bouncing back in the near term.

Chinese yuan also fell to a five year low with onshore yuan down 0.54 per cent to trade at 6.6101 before bouncing back to 6.6091 yuan per US dollar at 12.30am while the offshore yuan was down 0.79 per cent to trade at 6.6360 yuan per US dollar.

Sterling traded at US$1.3223 at 12.30pm on Friday when British media declared the result of the Brexit vote in favour of leaving the European Union. That was down 12 per cent from just a few hours earlier when it had hit this year’s high at US$1.5018 after leading Leave campaigner Nigel Farage said it looked as though “Remain” had “edged” the vote.

The currency started to fall sharply from 8am onward when vote results showed the “Leave” camp taking the lead.

Within four hours, the pound swung from this year’s high to trade at the lowest level since 1985.

Sterling pound to Hong Kong dollar also dropped to a 30-year low at HK$10.26, down 11.29 per cent, while each pound trade at 8.8288 yuan, down 9.6 per cent.