TW

Sterling briefly swooned to a 17-month low yesterday, before recovering ground to trade little-changed on the day, in a volatile session dominated by Brexit-related headlines.

The British currency fell sharply after Prime Minister Theresa May's government was found in contempt of parliament yesterday for refusing to release its full legal advice on Brexit, underlining the depth of opposition among lawmakers to her deal on leaving the European Union.

However, sterling rebounded after the government lost a vote in parliament on Tuesday that could reduce the likelihood of Britain leaving the EU without any deal.

The defeat could neuter the threat May has been using to persuade lawmakers to back her deal: that if they don't, Britain could leave the block without any deal.