British pound falls to more than 35-year lows as virus selloff accelerates

(Reuters) – Sterling fell more than 4% on Wednesday to the lowest since at least 1985 and past the previous “flash crash” lows hit in October 2016 as Britain joined other European countries by closing down schools to combat coronavirus.

The currency’s tumble is also part of a global selloff on almost every asset class as investors made a beeline for dollar cash, in many cases to fund redemptions from mutual funds. The dollar is up more than 2% against a basket of currencies <=USD>.

The currency fell to a low of $1.1452 while against the euro too it weakened around 3% at 94.33 pence, the lowest since March 2009.

(Reporting by Sujata Rao)