Pound sterling hits $1.278 low in worst decline since mid-February

In early Friday trading the pound sterling fell 0.3 per cent against the dollar to below $1.28 to a low not seen since mid-February.

The decline comes after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn declared that cross-party talks with prime minister Theresa May had come to a close, with no deal forthcoming.

Corbyn said that his party could not continue with the already six-week long discussions, taking aim at "the increasing weakness and instability" of May's government.

The sterling had traded just short of $1.34 in March and has now fallen against the euro for nine consecutive days.

According to Bloomberg this constitutes the longest unbroken slide since the turn of the century.

These latest developments have handed a boost to the FTSE 100 however, with the majority of its revenue coming in foreign currencies.

As of Friday morning trading, the blue-chip index was down by 0.26 per cent with the FTSE 250 down by 0.3 per cent.

May has already agreed to set a timetable for her departure from Number 10 over the first week of June, but not before she makes one last ditch attempt to pass her Brexit deal through parliament.