The pound hovered on Monday near its weakest level in decades in a sign of faltering investor sentiment in UK markets as Liz Truss prepares to take the reins as prime minister.

The pound traded as low as $1.1444 on Monday, just fractionally above a low it briefly struck during the 2020 coronavirus crisis, after falling about 8 per cent over the past three months. It has not traded at such weak levels on a regular basis since the mid-1980s.

The 10-year UK government bond yield also rose as much as 0.08 percentage points on Monday to reach 3 per cent for the first time since 2014, according to Refinitiv data. European debt markets have slumped across the board in recent weeks, sending yields soaring, but the selling has been particularly acute in the UK gilt market.