Pound Overtakes Argentine Peso to Become 2016’s Worst Performer

(Bloomberg) -- The pound headed for a third week of declines spurred by the Brexit vote, winning itself the title of 2016's worst performer among major currencies.

Sterling's rally Friday barely dented its 2.7 percent slide versus the dollar in the preceding four days. The U.K. currency this week overtook the Argentine peso as the biggest loser versus the dollar among 31 major peers in 2016 as investors continued to digest the fallout from the June 23 referendum decision to leave the European Union.

“Sterling's going to fall considerably further as the effects of that uncertainty on investment and growth emerge from the gloom,” Kit Juckes, a macro-strategist at Societe Generale SA in London, wrote in a note to clients.

The pound rose 0.3 percent to $1.2950 at 10:45 a.m. in London, leaving it down 2.4 percent this week and more than 12 percent this year. It gained 0.3 percent to 85.48 pence per euro, set for a 1.9 percent weekly slide.

On Wednesday, Britain's currency touched a 31-year low of $1.2798 after the closure of a number of property funds echoed the real-estate tremors at the start of the financial crisis in 2007. U.K. consumer confidence plunged the most in 21 years in a special post-referendum survey conducted from June 30 to July 5, data showed Friday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marianna Aragao in London at mduartedeara@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Goodman at dgoodman28@bloomberg.net, Paul Armstrong