Investing.com - Sterling rallied Wednesday as U.K. lawmakers voted to reject leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.
U.K. lawmakers first voted by 312 to 308 for an amendment that ruled out the U.K. leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement under any circumstances. The vote on the amendment was not legally binding, but changed the language of the goverment motion voted on later.
Prime Minister Theresa May then suffered her second defeat of the day as parliament voted in favor of the now-amended motion 321 votes to 278, despite the goverment whipping its party members to reject it.
Lawmakers are now expected on Thursday to vote for a delay to Brexit on March 29.
GBP/USD rose 1.39% to $1.3256, while EUR/USD rose 0.43% to $1.1334.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.22% to 96.69.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand increased 0.1% last month, but missed economists' forecasts for a 0.2% increase. In the 12 months through February, the PPI slowed to a 1.9% increase, in line with expectations.
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday core durable goods orders fell 0.1% in January, confounding economists' forecast for a 0.1% rise. But non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft - a proxy for business investment - rose 0.8% for the month, handily beating expectations for a 0.2% rise.
USD/JPY fell 0.26% to Y111.07, but losses were in the pair were limited by falling demand for safe-haven yen as Wall Street rallied.
USD/CAD slipped 0.34% to $1.3306 as the loonie was boosted by surging oil prices on the back of data showing U.S. crude stockpiles unexpectedly fell last week.