Kuala Lumpur/London — The rand strengthened 0.6% to under R16/£ on Tuesday as the pound tumbled after UK Prime Minister Theresa May was given the go-ahead to trigger Brexit. The pound fell against all of its group-of-10 peers as London traders sold the currency Sterling had a delayed reaction to the news, which came out late on Monday in London and gave May the chance to formally start negotiations with the EU. Market participants were reluctant to sell the currency during Tokyo’s trading hours. Markets were quiet before the US Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday, according to Masashi Murata, a currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman. The sell-off comes a day after Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon signalled the start of a legal process for an independence referendum. The pound has been one of the major victims of the UK’s vote to exit the EU, and has fallen about 19% against the dollar since the June referendum. Sterling has also shown a propensity to drop after new d...
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