Sterling hit a two-week low on Tuesday after a Bank of England policymaker suggested a batch of weak UK data had convinced him monetary policy should be eased immediately, Reuters reported. While stopping short of openly backing a cut in interest rates or quantitative easing, Martin Weale said that last week’s purchasing managers’ data for the services and manufacturing sectors—which pointed to the sharpest contraction since the 2008-09 financial crisis—were “a lot worse” than he had thought. The pound fell to as low as $1.30 against the dollar, its weakest since July 12. Against the euro, it fell 0.6% to 84.17 pence.
