Pound climbs 0.8% against US dollar, halts four-day decline

[TOKYO] The pound gained, halting a four-day slide against the US dollar. UK Prime Minister Theresa May has accepted that Parliament should be allowed to vote on her plan for taking Britain out of the European Union, but asked lawmakers to do it in a way that gives her space to negotiate.

The pound climbed 0.8 per cent to US$1.2216 as of 7:52am in Tokyo from Tuesday. It advanced 0.7 per cent to 90.56 pence per euro.

The decision may calm investors after they dumped the pound on concern Ms May was taking a gung-ho approach to the negotiations. The currency took a beating, falling more than 6 per cent this month through Tuesday, after Ms May signalled her intention to put immigration curbs before the City of London's interests in pulling Britain out of EU.

BLOOMBERG