During early European deals on Monday, the British pound fell sharply against its major counterparts despite a rise in regional stocks. The pound fell to a 4-day low against the dollar.
Most Asian and European stocks climbed today on the back of an encouraging U.S. jobs data.
Employment in the month of August fell by much less than economists had been expecting, according to a report released by the U.S. Labor Department on Friday, with the report also showing a much smaller than previously reported drop in employment in July.
The report showed that non-farm payroll employment fell by 54,000 jobs in August, matching the revised decrease in jobs seen in July. Economists had expected employment to fall by about 120,000 jobs compared to the loss of 131,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Despite the smaller than expected decrease in non-farm employment, the unemployment rate still edged up to 9.6 percent in August from 9.5 percent in July. The modest increase in the unemployment rate came in line with economist estimates.
U.K.'s benchmark FTSE 100 index is currently trading at 5,451.86 - up 23.60 points or 0.43% from Friday's close.
The pound that showed choppy trading against the currencies of Japan and Europe in Asian deals on Monday plunged in early European session. As of now, the pound is trading at a 4-day low of 129.40 against the yen and near a 6-week low of 0.8380 against the euro, compared to last week's close of 130.57 and 0.8339, respectively. The next downside target level for the pound is seen at 128.8 against the yen and 0.853 against the euro.
The pound that climbed to 1.5761 against the Swiss franc at 3:25 am ET Monday lost ground thereafter. The pound-yen pair is currently worth 1.5640, down from Friday's close of 1.5721. If the U.K. currency falls further, it may likely target the 1.556 level.
After hitting a 5-day high of 1.5492 against the dollar at 3:20 am ET Monday, the pound weakened. The pound-dollar pair that closed last week's trading at 1.5467 is presently trading at a 4-day low of 1.5390. On the downside, 1.535 is seen as the next target level for the U.K. currency.
The U.S. financial markets are closed today for the Labor Day holiday.
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