SYDNEY (REUTERS) - Sterling sank in Asia on Friday (June 9) after British elections seemed to have left no single party with a clear claim to power, sideswiping investors who had already weathered major risk events in the United States and Europe.
The pound dived over two US cents in a matter of seconds, though most stocks and bond markets were relatively unscathed awaiting further results.
An exit poll showed Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party could fail to win a parliamentary majority, a shock result that would plunge domestic politics into turmoil and could delay Brexit talks.
But early results were mixed and left the outcome very much in doubt, with the BBC reporting that 76 seats appeared too close to call.
E-mini futures for the S&P 500 were off 0.2 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei added 0.2 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was barely changed.
The exit poll predicted the ruling Conservatives would win 314 seats in the 650-member parliament and the opposition Labour Party 266, leaving no clear winner when markets had assumed May would easily increase her majority.
Betting agencies were already taking wagers on whether May would lose her job. "It's clear that the election is a humiliation for the Tories, who blew a massive poll lead in just a few weeks," said Sean Callow, senior currency analyst at Westpac.
He predicted a hung parliament would strip the pound of all the gains made since the election was called and leave it wallowing around US$1.2500.
"But given the patchy history of exit polls, this time we will have to wait for the seat by seat results, setting the pound up for a volatile day," he added.
By 0000 GMT sterling had shed 1.8 per cent to a two-month trough of US$1.2720. It was also down 1.6 per cent on the euro at 87.90 pence.
The safe-haven Japanese yen edged higher on risk aversion to reach 109.88 per dollar. Highly rated sovereign bonds were also in demand with US 10-year Treasury futures gaining 5 ticks.
The euro had less luck on the US dollar, easing 0.25 per cent to US$1.1188 and testing support under US$1.1190.
It had already slipped overnight when the European Central Bank cut forecasts for inflation and said it had not discussed scaling back its massive bond-buying campaign, sending bond yields to multi-month lows.
Overnight, Wall Street had seemingly judged the testimony of former FBI director James Comey was not life-threatening to the administration of President Donald Trump.
Comey accused Trump of firing him to try to undermine the investigation into possible collusion by his campaign team with Russia's alleged efforts to influence the 2016 election.
"I think the market is taking less of an alarmist review of this situation because there is no smoking gun here," said Jefferies & Co money market economist Thomas Simons. "So it's not particularly impactful for thinking about... Trump's economic agenda to go through."
The Dow rose 0.04 per cent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.03 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite 0.39 per cent.
In commodity markets, spot gold was a whisker higher at US$1,279.20 an ounce.
Oil prices remained subdued with Brent having settled at its lowest since Nov 29, the eve of an Opec production cut deal.
US crude futures were off 14 cents at US$45.50 a barrel, with Brent crude down 15 cents at US$47.71.
