The British pound GBPUSD, +0.0076% saw volatile trading Tuesday, marked by a sharp 2% swing between its high and low, amid the first of a series of Brexit votes this week.
The British Parliament rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal for a second time on Tuesday — having initially rejected it back in January. May lost by a margin of 149. The reaction in the pound, nevertheless, was limited as traders had already anticipated the outcome.
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Tuesday’s rejection came even after the U.K. leader received last-minute assurances from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on the treatment of the Northern Irish border 24-hours before the vote. The so-called backstop issue has been at the heart of problems surrounding Brexit. However, those guarantees weren’t enough to get a Brexit deal passed.
Earlier, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said that revisions to May’s Brexit plans reduced the risk of the U.K. indefinitely being trapped in the customs union of the EU, but didn’t eliminate legal risk, according to reports.
Lawmakers will next vote on whether they want a hard, no-trade-deal Brexit on Wednesday, ahead of a vote on a potential extension of the March 29 exit deadline on Thursday.
The pound last bought $1.3089, down from $1.3149 late Monday. Against the euro EURGBP, +0.0347% sterling also remained weak, with the shared currency buying £0.8630, up 0.9%, also off its highs.
In earlier data, U.K. January gross domestic product came in stronger than expected at 0.5%. Industrial production and manufacturing production for the same month also beat forecasts.
In other currencies, the U.S. dollar DXY, -0.19% was down 0.3% at 96.913. The consumer price inflation read for February, released earlier in the session, was in line with expectation. On the month, prices rose 0.2%, up from three straight months of no change. Year-over-year, prices slowed to 1.5% from 1.6% before.
The euro EURUSD, +0.0177% was stronger, buying $1.1300, versus $1.1245 late Monday.
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