 "Sterling recoups some losses after near 10% plunge; stocks slip")
Sterling recouped some losses after plunging to a three-decade low in Asian trade on Friday amid growing fears of a "hard" exit by Britain from the European Union (EU), though the broader global market impact was limited with stocks down only slightly.
The pound nosedived almost 10 per cent at one point to $1.1378 after crashing through key support levels and triggering a wave of selling.
But it quickly bounced and by late morning was around 1.2441, still down about 1.5 per cent from late US levels and leaving traders scratching their heads in the absence of any major news overnight.
"This was even a bigger move than what we saw after the Brexit vote. There were almost no offers, no bids when this happened," said a trader at a European bank in Tokyo.
The pound has come under renewed pressure as fears grow that Britain's divorce from the EU will be messier and costlier for the economy than expected. UK Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday set a March deadline for the formal departure process from the EU to begin.
"The whole thing's been on a precipice since Sunday, since Theresa May (pointed to) March Brexit negotiations, but the selling has been very substantial so you can only think its been part of that general punishment of the pound for Brexit," said Sean Callow, senior currency strategist at Westpac in Sydney.
"I think we've underestimated how many people had money positions for a very wishy-washy Brexit or even none. May's comments have really just started the cleanout and we just haven't seen any sign of bouncing," added Callow.
Also Read
While the sterling's move broadly coincided with some news reports that Britain's separation from the eurozone may be a tough process, some traders blamed it on a possible a "fat finger" error triggering automatic stop-loss orders.
"A few stops got triggered in early trading and once cable broke 1.20, option barriers sent it lower," said Gerrard Katz, head of Asian FX sales and trading at Scotiabank said, adding, "The broader market impact has been limited and cable should consolidate between the 1.20 and 1.25 levels."
Britain's finance minister Philip Hammond tried to reassure jittery markets on Thursday, saying the UK economy was fundamentally strong, but he acknowledged that next year will be "turbulent".
Elsewhere in currency markets, the dollar edged down 0.3 per cent against the yen to 103.66 after hitting its highest level in a month on Thursday.
The euro eased 0.2 per cent to $1.1128, poised to shed one per cent for the week.
The greenback held firm after data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to near a 43-year low, boding well for Friday's closely-watched payroll data.
In stocks, Asian shares dipped but held not far from the 14-month high touched last month ahead of the US jobs report later in the day. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan and Japan's Nikkei both eased around 0.2 per cent.
Strong US jobs numbers could cement expectations of a Federal Reserve rate increase later this year and ripple through markets. Economists polled by Reuters forecast nonfarm payrolls to increase by 175,000.
A disorderly reaction to possible US interest rate hikes could disrupt capital flows and heighten asset price volatility in Asia, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday.
Interest rate futures are now pricing in about a 65 percent chance of a rate hike by December, compared to less than 50 per cent late last month.
The 10-year US Treasuries yield hit a three-week high of 1.746 per cent on Thursday before easing slightly to 1.73 per cent on Friday.
Gold hit a 3-1/2-month low of $1,250 per ounce, having declined five per cent on the week. It last stood at $1,258.8.
Silver has slumped more than 10 per cent so far this week to hit a four-month low of $17.1525 per ounce.
Oil prices steadied after US crude broke through $50 a barrel overnight, spurred by an informal meeting among the world's biggest producers on output cuts and falling US crude inventories.
US crude futures were little changed at $50.43, just below Thursday's four-month high of $50.63.