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Sterling sinks as UK faces uncertainty over govt

Published 05/07/2010, 04:40 AM
Updated 05/07/2010, 05:00 AM

* Sterling hits 1-yr low vs dlr of $1.4596, sinks vs euro * UK election results point to no single party majority * Euro climbs 1 percent on day vs sterling

By Naomi Tajitsu

LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - Sterling sank to a one-year low against the dollar and fell sharply against the euro on Friday after partial results of a bitterly fought UK general election suggested no party would have overall control.

The pound fell as low as $1.4596, its weakest since late April 2009, as the latest results showed the opposition Conservatives would be the largest party in parliament but without a clear majority.

Analysts said the stalemate was chilling sentiment towards the pound as a lack of clarity about the composition of the next government raised uncertainty about how Britain would tackle its towering deficits.

"This hung parliament is not offering a clear, viable easy coalition resolution," said Peter Frank, currency strategist at Societe Generale.

"It's political paralysis, and given other uncertainties, it's not good timing ... It's not good for sterling," he said, adding he expected further falls in pound in the near term.

By 0752 GMT, sterling traded 0.3 percent lower on the day at $1.4725.

Sterling's losses on Friday followed a hefty tumble on Thursday due to election jitters and put the pound on track to post a loss of roughly 4 percent versus the dollar this week, its worst weekly performance since January 2009.

The euro rose about 1 percent on the day to 86.75 pence, before pulling back to 86.35 pence.

This helped push sterling to 78.7 against a currency basket, retreating from a near three-month high of 80.4 touched on Thursday.

PRESSURE PERSISTS

UK assets were stung by the inconclusive election results, with British shares falling to their weakest since mid-February, while gilt futures fell, reversing earlier gains.

With most of the votes counted, neither a combination of the ruling Labour party and the Liberal Democrats nor one of the Conservatives and the Ulster Unionists looked to be able make up a majority, opening up the prospect of political stalemate.

"It's as bad as it gets," a London-based FX trader.

"Labour/Liberal Democrats cannot get a majority, Tory/Ulster Union cannot get majority, Tory/LibDem won't deal with each other."

Analysts said sterling would stay under selling pressure as a lack of a strong government able to implement measures to reduce Britain's deficits may also raise speculation the country's sovereign credit rating could be cut.

Overall risk aversion was doing no favours to sterling, as fears that Greece's debt crisis may spread to other euro zone nations triggered safe-haven demand for dollars.

"With such extreme nervousness coming from the Greek crisis and worries of a general loss of confidence and liquidity, we believe there is likely to be further downside pressure on GBP in the short run, at least against the USD," Barclays analysts said in a note.

(Editing by Nigel Stephenson)

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