Investors are bracing for another day of sterling volatility, as the crisis created by the government's reckless mini-budget continues to grip the markets.
The pound is slightly higher in early trading, clinging onto the $1.08 mark, after hitting an all-time low around $1.035 yesterday morning. It's still down 7% this month.
And the pound still looks extremely vulnerable, as the Treasury and the Bank of England struggle to prevent a full-scale loss of financial market confidence.
UK government bonds are on track for their worst month on record, going back to the 1950s, as international faith in Britain is hammered by Kwasi Kwarteng's binge of borrowing to fund tax cuts, mainly benefiting the wealthy.
The selloff has pushed the cost of borrowing for 10 years up to 4.1%, from 3.1% before the mini-budget.
Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank, says: "UK assets have remained at the eye of the storm as the negative reaction to the government's mini-budget on Friday continued.
"The country's government bonds were completely routed for a second day."
The staggering slump in gilt prices in recent days has forced several mortgage providers, including Virgin Money and Skipton Building Society, to pull deals, with economists predicting that interest rates could rise to 6% by next summer.
That would leave many households facing massive increases in mortgage repayments, which will be impossible for some to meet.
Yesterday, the Bank of England resisted pressure to implement an immediate emergency rise in interest rates, which put fresh selling of the pound.
The pound's calamitous slide to record lows has gripped global markets too, and even increased the risk of a global recession.
And Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is expected to depict Labour as the party of "sound money" and fiscal responsibility at his keynote speech to the Labour conference in Liverpool.
The agenda • 12.30pm BST: ECB president Christine Lagarde speaks on a panel on financial stability challenges related to digitalisation of financial services • 1.30pm BST US durable goods orders for August
We'll be tracking all the main events throughout the day ... |
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