Sterling started the day lower after British Prime Minister Theresa May’s offer to quit failed to convince hard-line opponents to back her Brexit withdrawal agreement, fuelling more uncertainty for the pound in the short term.
The British parliament’s bid to agree an alternative plan fell short, leaving the Brexit process as deadlocked as ever.
May has admitted she lacks support to put her Brexit withdrawal deal to a third vote and that has kept sterling under pressure.
A key question for investors is whether some of the most influential Brexit-supporting rebels, such as Jacob Rees-Mogg, decide to back her deal.
May hopes to bring her deal back to parliament later this week.
In a sign of how nervous the currency markets have become, expectations of how much the currency would move in the coming weeks have climbed faster than bets on how volatile the pound will be over a year.