Investing.com - The pound fell below $1.40 for the first time since March 2009 on Wednesday dragged lower by uncertainty over the outcome of the looming referendum on Britain’s European Union membership.
GBP/USD hit lows of 1.3965, the weakest since mid-March 2009 and was last at 1.3985, off 0.24% for the day.
The pound has come under heavy selling pressure amid fears over the impact on the economy if the outcome of the June 23 referendum leads to a “Brexit”.
Sterling has now lost 2.9% this week after several senior members Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative party, including London Mayor Boris Johnson, said they were backing the campaign to leave the EU.
The pound slid lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP edging up 0.13% to 0.7870, not far from the one-year high of 0.7897 set on February 11.
Elsewhere, the safe haven yen remained supported as fresh falls in oil prices pulled down equity markets, dampening investor demand for riskier assets.
Oil prices remained under pressure amid concerns about global oversupply after Saudi Arabia ruled out production cuts.
USD/JPY fell to two-week lows of 111.63 overnight before pulling back to 112.13.
The euro was trading at almost three-year lows against the Japanese currency, with EUR/JPY at 123.32.
The euro slid to three-week lows against the dollar, with EUR/USD down 0.19% to 1.0997.
The euro has weakened this week amid fears over the impact of a “Brexit” on the euro zone.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.15% to 97.61.