LONDON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The British pound slipped against the U.S. dollar on Thursday morning as the market watches and waits for more clarity on the next step of Brexit after parliament vote failed to break the Brexit impasse on Wednesday evening.
The UK parliament voted against eight alternative options to the Brexit deal Wednesday evening, including leaving without a deal, creating a customs union and backing a confirmatory referendum on any deal.
It paves the way for a third meaningful vote over the next few days on the Brexit deal, already twice defeated by the parliament, but the Prime Minister Theresa May has said no vote will be held unless it stands a good chance of winning.
The pound was trading at 1.3116 against the U.S. dollar, down by 0.34 percent and it fell 0.11 percent against the euro at 1.1687 by noon.
Benefiting from a weaker pound, the benchmark FTSE 100 Index, comprised of multinationals, has risen by 0.59 percent, or 42.52 points, at 7,236.71 points. The FTSE 250, with a more domestic focus, went up by 0.19 percent, or 36.20 points, at 18,929.94 points.
Analysts said Brexit will continue to weigh on the movements of pound in the coming days. British lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to change original Brexit departure date in law from March 29 to April 12 or May 22, depending on whether the Brexit deal could win approval from parliament. May has said she will step down after Brexit deal is delivered.
"Sterling is lower this morning courtesy of that heightened no-deal and electoral risk and will be watching Downing Street and Northern Ireland to see whether the intransigent Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) are offered enough to back the PM's deal," said Jeremy Thomson-Cook, Chief Economist at international payments group WorldFirst.
If the DUP comes on board, May is a lot closer to a majority, though some Conservative lawmakers still stand opposed to the deal, Thomson-Cook said.
The DUP voted against the Brexit deal at the parliament's previous two votes, warning that the Irish border "backstop" in the deal endangers the integrity of the country.
The controversial "backstop" plan is designed to avoid border checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It is considered by some British especially Brexiteers to be a trap to retain Britain in a customs union with the EU and pragmatically delay their "divorce".
